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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR JAMES J* DAVIS, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS ETHELBERT STEWART, Commissioner BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES ) BUREAU OF L A B O R S T A T IS T IC S j No. 339 I N D U S T R I A L A C C I D E N T S AND H Y G I E N E S E RI E S STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES By LUCIAN W. CHANEY JUNE, 1923 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1923 a d d i t i o n a l c o p ie s OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. AT 10 CENTS PER COPY PURCHASER AGREES NOT TO RESELL OR DISTRIBUTE THIS COPY FOR PROFIT.—PUB. RES. 57, APPROVED MAY 11, 1933 n V CONTENTS, Page. Introduction.................................................................................................................. 1-4 State accident records for1917 to 1921....................................................................... 4-8 State accident records for1920.................................................................................... 8-23 Arkansas................................................................................................................. 9 California................................................................................................................ 9 Idaho....................................................................................................................... 10 Illinois.................................................................................................................... 10 Indiana................................................................................................................... 11 Kansas..................................................................................................................... 11 Maryland................................................................................................................ 11,12 Massachusetts......................................................................................................... 12,13 Minnesota............................................................................................................... 13,14 Montana.................................................................................................................. 14 Nevada.................................................................................................................... 15 New Jersey............................?............................................................................... 15,16 Oklahoma............................................................................................................... 16 Oregon..................................................................................................................... 16,17 Pennsylvania......................................................................................................... 17-21 Washington............................................................................................................. 21 Wisconsin..................................................................................................................22,23 Wyoming................................................................................................................ 23 Summary: Industries..........................................................................................................24,25 Cause of injury............................................................................................... 26 Nature of injury............................................................................................... 26, 27 Location of injury.......................................................................................... 27 Steam railways.............................................................................................................. 28, 36 Trainmen.................................................................................................................. 29-31 Nontrain employees.............................................................................................. 31-35 Grade-crossing accidents...................................................................................... 35,36 Iron and steel industry.................................................................................................. 36-15 Mines, quarries, and metallurgical works................................................................. 45-51 Coal mines................................................................................................................ 45-47 Metal mines.............................................................................................................. 48,49 Quarries.................................................................................................................. 49 Metallurgical plants.............................................................................................. 50 Coke ovens.............................................................................................................. 50,51 Miscellaneous industries.................................................................................................51-60 Agricultural machinery and supplies................................................................. 51, 52 Automobile industry............................................................................................. 52,53 Building construction...........................................................................................53,54 Copper works.......................................................................................................... 54 Electrical apparatus.............................................................................................. 54 Explosives, dyes, andchemicals. ....................................................................... 55 Light and power.................................................................................................... 55, 56 Machine building.................................................................................................. 56 Manufacture of cameras........................................................................................56,57 Manufacture of Portland cement........................................................................ 57 Paper mills................................................................................................................57,58 Petroleum refining................................................................................................. 58 Rubber industry...................................................................................................... 58,59 Rubber tires.................................................................................................... 59 Tool manufacture.................................................................................................. 59 Woodworking and logging.......................................................................................59, 60 Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 60 hi BULLETIN OF THE U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS n o . 339 WASHINGTON ju n e , 1923 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES. INTRODUCTION. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has issued two bulle tins attempting to bring together accident statistics on a national scale. These bulletins, prepared by Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, were issued in 1908 and 1914.1 In the introduction to the later bulletin (Bulletin No. 157) Doctor Hoffman says: “At the present time there are no entirely complete and trustworthy industrial accident statistics for even a single im portant industry in the United States. The most reliable data are for the iron and steel industry, mining, and the railways.” As will appear further on, it is still tne case that the three industrial groups mentioned are the only ones whose statistics are being assembled with reasonable accuracy and completeness on a national scale. This is due to the fact that three Federal agencies, namely, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Bureau of Mines, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, have undertaken the task of collecting the facts and putting them in form for use. During the period for which these agencies have assembled these data the whole vast system of workmen's compensation laws has grown up, with the result that a large majority of the States have come to have a new interest in the preparation and use of accident sta tistics. It would seem to be reasonable to expect that the published results of this statistical activity on the part of the States could be brought together in such a fashion as to give a national view of the whole in dustrial field. The present bulletin attempts, among other things, to do this. It will, however, be necessary, unfortunately, to point out the serious shortcomings which render this huge mass of data less useful than it should be. Two things ought to be done regarding industrial accidents: (1) They should be prevented; (2) such as can not be prevented should be adequately compensated. When the idea of compensation for in dustrial accidents entered the field of legislation less tnan 15 years ago there was already in existence machinery intended to take care of the matter of accident prevention. The factory inspection organizations in the various States had, during their period of existence, relied for 1 U S. Bureau of Labor Statistics B ui No- 78: Industrial accidents; Bui No. 157: Industrial acci dent statistics- 1 2 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. results upon the orders which they issued and the prosecutions which they instituted. Few statistics were gathered, and such as were compiled were of doubtful utility from the accident prevention stand point. In some States the compensation law consolidated the factory in spection with the administration of compensation in an industrial commission. In others the two functions were kept independent. It is impossible to administer a compensation law without securing large amounts of statistical information. Consequently the reports required from industrialists were expanded to include the items needed for compensation purposes, but as the commissioners in practically every State were soon engulfed in the multiplied details of compen sation administration, ana the problems of accident prevention were considered as belonging to factory inspection, not much has been done in the statistical study of accident prevention. There are five things which must be known regarding groups of accidents if their study is to be of the greatest service in accident pre vention. These are (1) the number of accidents occurring; (2) the industries in which they occur; (3) the causes of the accidents; (4) the amount of exposure to hazard; (5) the severity of the accidents. It will be well to consider with some care why these five items should be regarded as essential to any effective use of accident sta tistics for purposes of accident prevention. (1) Number of accidents .—That the number of accidents should be recorded is obvious. The difficulty is that the States do not lim it what shall be regarded as an accident in the same way. Reference to Table 2 will show that some States require reports of “ tabulatab le” 2 accidents. Some exclude those causing disability of one day or less, some those causing disability of two days or less, and some those causing disability oi two weeks and less. This lack of uni form ity regarding what shall be recorded greatly impairs the value of the record as an index of the precise conditions. It is not a matter of great concern to one attempting to formulate national statistics from these State records as to iust what the definition shall be, but it is of great importance that it shall be universally adopted. (2) Industrial classification .— It is evident that the gross total of accidents occurring m a State with varied industries leads nowhere. It is only when the matter is traced back to the industrial conditions under which the accidents occur that a beginning is made toward a knowledge of the proper remedial measures and their application. It is only necessary to consider Table 2 to see that it offers no sug gestion whatever m the way of a program of prevention. When, however, as in Tables 3 to 27, the accidents in the various industries are separated, some hint is offered regarding the points where acci dent prevention effort is needed. (3) Causes of accidents .— While an industrial classification gives some indication as to where efforts for prevention may be usefully applied, it does not in the least help in determining what the effort shall be. To gain some notion of what to do in the premises a classi fication by accident causes is needed. The number of States which have made some efforts at cause classification, as shown by Table 28, is evidence that there is some appreciation of its importance.* *A tabulatable accident, as defined by the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions, is “ an accident causing death, permanent disability, or temporary (Usability beyond the day or turn in which the accident occurred.” INTRODUCTION. 3 (4) Exposure to hazard .—The importance of knowing the exposure to hazara in connection with accidents is perhaps appreciated, but the difficulties of securing this information have thus far prevented attempts to secure the facts except in a few of the smaller States, such as Nevada and Oregon. When it is observed that in Pennsylvania in a period of 6 years there have been 300,524 accidents in coal mining, while in the metals and metal products industry there have been 343,163 accidents, it becomes evident that the question regarding the relative hazard of these two industrial groups is still unanswered. The larger number in the metals and metal products industry may be only the natural result of a larger number employed rather than due to greater hazard. It is necessary to know how many employees were in each industrial group and something regarding the length of time during which these employees were subject to the dangers of their calling. Without this base to which to relate the number of accidents in both the industrial and the cause classification, the place most needing the application of accident prevention measures is not disclosed. In this bulletin both accident frequency and severity rates are computed on the basis of 1,000 hours’ exposure (or man hours worked), the base recommended by the committee of the Interna tional Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions. Freqtency rates are in most cases expressed in rates per thousand thousand (1,000,000) hours’ exposure of the working force, while sevei ity rates are expressed as days lost per thousand hours’ exposure of the working force. Rates for the full-year worker (a hypothetical worker, supposed to work 10 hours a day for 300 days in the year), may be obtained by multiplying the rates given by 3. (5) Severity of accident.— Information as to tne amount of disa bility resulting from an accident is necessary because of the diversity of industry. Some industries naturally have a high proportion of severe injuries and others of minor injuries. Comparison of industries on the basis of frequency of accidents alone may give very misleading indications. In fact, high accident frequency rates are rather apt to go with low severity rates, and this fact should be made evident by the manner of statistical presentation. It may be said that the matter of severity can be studied fairly well for a given State by means of compensation costs, but the varying benefits and the other differences from State to State make nearly impossible a combination of the data in form which will be trustworthy. In the absence of one or more of these elements of an adequate statistical study of accident prevention, the accident records from the States shown hereafter are less important than they would be if that information was available. They constitute, however, the most ex tensive compilation thus far made from the published reports of the States and as such have interest and value. In Table 1 is shown the nature of the information which was obtainable from each of the several States and the source of the data appearing in this bulletin. For 42 States information was obtainable concerning fatal and nonfatal accidents; for 22 States a classification of accidents by industries; for 18 States a classification by cause of injury; for 12 States a classification by nature of injury; for 11 States a classification by location of injury; for 2 States the amount of exposure; and for 3 States the severity of accidents. STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. 4 T able 1.—NATURE OF INFORMATION AS TO ACCIDENTS IN 1920 SECURED FROM THE SEVERAL STATES. States reporting accidents by— Nature Loca Expo Sever Num Indus Cause of of tion of ity try. injury. ber. injury. injury. sure. rates. (22) (42) (12) (2) (3) (18) (11) Source of information. Response to special request. Report of State Mine Inspector for 1920, p. 63. Report of Bureau of Labor and Statistics for 1919-20, p. 60. Report of industrial Accident Commission Calif... Calif... Calif.. Calif.. Calif.. for 1920, p. 69. Colo_ Report of Industrial Commission for 1921, p. 117. Crtnn_ Response to special request. Do. Del__ Do. Ga...... Triflbn.. Idaho.. Idaho. Idaho. Idaho. Report ofIndustrial Accident Board for 1920, p. 35 et seq. HI....... Ill....... HI..... HI..... HI..... Report of Industrial Commission for 1920, p. 14et seq. Ind__ Ind.... Ind... Ind... Ind... Report of Industrial Board for 1919-20, p. 4 et seq. Iowa_ Response to special request. TTftns... TTans... Report of Court of Industrial Relations for 1920, p. 34. Ky.... Ky.... Ky.... Ky..... Report of Workmen’s Compensation Board for 1919-20, p. 17 et seq. Me...... Response to special request. Report of Industrial Accident Commission Md..... Md..... Md.... Md.... Md.... for 1920, p. 15. Report of Industrial Accident Board for Mass... Mass... Mass.. Mass.. Mass.. 1920-21, p. 49. Response to special request. Mich... Minn.. Minn... Minn.. Report of Department of Labor and Indus Minn.. Minn... tries for 1919-1920, p. 26et seq. Mont... Mont.. Report of Industrial Accident Board for 1920, Mont... p. 232et seq. Response to special request. Nebr... Nev... Nev... Report of Industrial Commission for 1920, Nev.... Nev.... p. 22. Response to special request. N. H... Report of Department of Labor for 1920, p. N. J.... N. J.... N. J... 110et seq. N.Mex. N.Mex.' Report of State Mine Inspector for 1920. Response to special request. N. Y ... Report of Workmen’s Compensation Bureau N.Dak N.Dak. for 1920-21, p. 9. Ohio General Statutes, 1921, p. 293. Ohio.. Ohio... Report of Industrial Commission for 1921, Okla... Okla Okla.. pT16. Oreg.. Oreg.. Report of Industrial Accident Commission Oreg... Oreg... Oreg.. for 1920, p. 6. Advance sheets of tables for 1920; Monthly Pa...... Pa.... Pa.... Pa__ Pa Bulletin of Department of Labor and Industries, November, 1922, p. 35. Response to special request. R. I.... Report of Industrial Commission for 1920. S. Dak. S. Dak. Report of Bureau of Workshop and Factory Tenn... Tenn... Tenn.. Tenn.. Inspection for 1921, p. 95 et seq. Response to special request. Tex.... Report of Industrial Commission for 1920. Utah... Response to special request. Va...... Report of Commissioner of Industries for v t ...... Vt__ 1920, p. 49. Report of Department of Labor and Indus Wash.. Wash.. Wash. tries for 1921-22. Response to special request. W. Va. Wis... Wisconsin Safety Review, October, 1921, p. 14, Wis.... Wis.... Wis... Report of Workmen’s Compensation Depart* Wyo... Wyo... Wyo.. Wyo.. Wyo.. ment for 1920, p. 32. Ala.... Ariz.... Ariz.1.. Ark__ Ark.... »Mines only. STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1917 TO 1921. In Table 2 are shown the number of fatal and nonfatal accidents from 1917 to 1921 recorded by the various States and by the United States Employees’ Compensation Commission. T able 2.—NUMBER OF FATAL AND NONFATAL ACCIDENTS AS REPORTED BY THE SEVERAL STATES, 1917 TO 1921. 1918 1917 1921 1920 1919 State. Scope of data. Fatal. Nonfatal. Fatal. Nonfatal. Fatal. Nonfatal. Fatal. Nonfatal. Fatal. Nonfatal. 108 31 110 36 Arizona1.............. Arkansas.............. California ...... Colorado............... 82 998 93 14 706 202 1,261 150 57,014 14,730 443,188 6,107 Connecticut........... Delaware.............. Florida................. Georgia................. Idaho................... Illinois.................. 626 300 (a) 59,055 12,480 446,935 (2) 41 135 62 1,127 (2) 586 201 34 57,991 11,157 442,513 4,853 51 535 3,836 37,754 (2) 53 16 592 179 36 7,144 115 958 22 1,405 (2) 69,813 550 14,100 151 438,764 96 2,611 18 597 5,367 49,988 82 63 498 34,964 291 42,703 263 181 10,926 154 14,283 113 104 118 6,322 13,810 118 493 6,891 15,662 71 122 !21 492 1 854 36,268 664 629 63,785 37,618 Indiana................ 305 42,148 373 37,147 268 Iowa.................... 159 24,520 187 15,420 Kansas................. Kentucky............. 83 6,371 • 12,665 93 96 6,342 13,557 83 5,500 Only fatal and serious accidents in coal mines reported prior to Jan. 1, 1920, when compensation law went into effect. Calendar year. 509 Compensationlaw makes no provision for reporting accidents. Fiscal year, ends Nov. 30. (2) Nocompensation act. Mine accidents required to bereported. Fiscal year. 124,979 Accidents involving loss of time or medical aid reported by all employers. Act compulsory. Calendar year. 13,753 Accidents reported by employers under the act. Act elec tive. Fiscal year, ends Nov. 30. 22,800 Accidents of 1 day’s disability reported by employers under act. Law elective. 3,882 Accidents reported by employers under act. Law elective. Calendar year. No provision for reporting accidents. 11,696 No provision for reporting accidents until passage of work men’s compensation law, which became effective in 1921. 4,564 Accidents of more than 1 day’s disability. 1919 figures are closed cases only. Fiscal year, ends Oct. 30. 43,024 Accidents of more than 1 week’s disability. Law compulsory as to extrahazardous occupations enumerated. Calendar year. 34,133 Accidents of more than 1 day’s disability reported by em ployers under act. Law compulsory as to mines, elective as to other employments. Fiscal year, ends Sept. 30. 14,839 1917 figures supposed to include all accidents reported by em ployers under act. 1918 and 1919 accidents of more than 1 day’s disability reported by employers under act. Law elective. Fiscal year, ends June 30. 6,240 Accidents of more than 1 day’s disability reported by em ployers under act. Law elective. 16,687 Accidents of more than 1 day's disability reported by em ployers under act. Law elective. Fiscal year, ends June 30. STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1911 TO 1921. Alabama............... 1Mines only. *Not reported. *Figures for nonfatal cases in California, 1917 to 1920, are for tabulatable accidents, while for 1921 they include all accidents reported. 4Includes fatal accidents, the number of which is not reported. 5Covers 10months only. *Includes fatal accidents, the number of which is not reported. Covers claims filed for 11 months only. Oi T able 2*—NUMBER OF FATAL AND NONFATAL ACCIDENTS AS REPORTED BY TH E SEVERAL STATES, 1917 TO 1921—Concluded. 1918 1917 1919 1921 1920 Scope of data. State. Fatal. Nonfatal. Fatal. Nonfatal. Fatal. Nonfatal. Fatal. Nonfatal. Fatal. Nonfatal. (3) 71 7980 63 *131 481 386 183 14,738 37,303 78,308 112,477 30,926 83 *163 438 320 251 16,557 42,407 77,067 256,309 29,716 8,018 13,278 1,958 124 13 39 New Hampshire.... 307 15 52 9 459 10 New Jersey........... 361 Maine................... Maryland.............. Massachusetts....... Michigan.............. Minnesota............. Mississippi_______ (2) 7876 71 52 *183 356 256 215 18,666 46,692 66,884 231,421 27,068 60 *153 376 313 201 18,463 53,525 65,112 227,045 32,659 5,697 7,053 1,960 759 122 5,353 11,245 1,177 94 50 33 40 4,820 13,626 1,143 3,385 10 3,421 11,326 3,051 1,521 12,382 W185 M37,003 524 30,728 285 28,556 282 27,754 128 12 1 (a) 132 (2) 49 12,778 *116 36,896 296 53,017 »266 0 100,176 124 29,204 Missouri............ Montana.............. Nebraska.............. Nevada................ New Mexico.......... New York............. North Carolina _ 1,570 311,836 1,504 1543 28 35 855 141 158,786 15,027 956 195 116 <2) 285,367 1,815 286,629 1,236 344,436 1,170 292,781 161,253 19,723 151,401 4 764 130 1,331 720 182,206 649 111,626 22,584 85 22,864 North Dakota....... Ohio.................... Oklahoma............. 83 30 15 870 Accidents of more than 2 weeks’ disability in establishments where women and children are employed. Compensation law carries no provision for reporting accidents. Calendar year. Accidents occurring during year reported by employers under act. Law elective. Calendar year. Accidents causing disability reported by employers under act. Law compulsory. Fiscal year, ends Oct. 31. Tabulatable accidents. Fiscal year, ends June 30. Accidents reported by all employers. Law elective. Cal endar year. Tabulatable accidentsreported by employers underact. Law elective. Fiscal year, ends June 30. No provision for reporting accidents. No statistics published. None received in response to letter of inquiry. Compensation law nullified by popular refer endum in 1920. Tabulatable accidentsreported by employers underact. Law elective. Fiscal year, ends June 30. Accidents causing disability or requiring medical aid reported by employers under act. Law elective. Calendar year. Tabulatable accidents reported by employers underact. Law elective. Fiscal year, ends June 30. Accidents resulting in 2weeks’ disability or more reported by employers under act. Law elective. Fiscal year, ends Aug. 31. Accidents of more than 2 weeks’ disability. Law elective. Commission has requested that all tabulatable accidents be reported, which probably accounts for increase in 1918. Fiscal year, ends June 30. Only mine accidents reported. Compensation act in effect since June, 1917, but no provision for reporting accidents except to mine inspector. Fiscal year, ends Oct. 31. Tabulatableaccidents reported by employers under act. Law compulsory. Fiscal year, ends June 30. Law provides for reporting of mine accidents only. No report has been recaved. Accidents not reported until July 1,1919, when compensation law went into effect. Number of claims filed. Total figure not tabulated. Fiscal year, ends June 30. Accidents causing disability reported by employers under act. Law compulsory. Fiscal year, ends Aug. 31. STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. 7819 Utah.................... 147 2,569 28 14,333 149,975 2,666 20 49 223 1,750 1,613 52,502 23 2,228 21 30 1,190 109 400 65,600 96 308 (2) 90 11,782 73 8,816 99 10,084 94 (*) 49 7,160 28 6,258 32 8,048 27 846 144 10,776 172 12,151 133 26,892 23,832 19,198 21,905 369 (i*) (*) 18,204 171 25,924 287 (*) 244 (“ ) 18,270 429 181 103 3,403 27 i7 26 i 583 1,465 (*) Vermont............... 32 Virginia................ i63 1512 141 Washington.......... West Virginia........ Wisconsin............. 320 488 219 22,156 22,903 20,341 414 547 163 1 368 144 2,528 28 13,275 138 172,451 1,924 2,951 24 2,230 17,455 23 20,318 Tabulatable accidents. Law elective. Figures for 1918 are closed cases only. Fiscal year, ends June 30. 138,273 Accidents of more than 2 days’ disability reported by em ployers under act. Law elective. Calendar year. 2,952 Industrial commission has issued no report. Data cover factories only. Calendar year. No provision for accident reporting. 2,701 Accidents reported by employers under act. Law elective. Fiscal year, ends June 30. 17,093 Accidents causing injury and death reported to factory inspector. 1919 figures estimated. Calendar year. 94,564 Accidents of more than 1 day’s disability reported by em ployers under act. Law elective. Fiscal year, ends Aug. 5,612 Accidents causing disability or requiring medical aid reported by employers under act. Law compulsory Fiscal year, ends June 30. No reports prior to July 1,1918. 6,331 Accidents of more than 1 day’s disability or requiring medical aid reported by employers under the act. Law elective Fiscal year, ends June 30. H5,347 1919 figures represent accidents of more than 1 day’s dis ability reported by employers under act (law elective) for 9 months’ period ending Sept. 30. 20,016 Accidents causing disability reported by employers under the act. Law compulsory. Fiscal year, ends Sept. 30. 20,398 Accidents reported by employers under the act. Law elective. Fiscal year, ends June 30. 18,806 Accidents of more than 7 days’ disability required to be reported. Law elective. Statistics of fatalities are number ofclaims for compensation. Fiscal year, ends June 30. 2,042 Claims allowed. Calendar year. 18,066 Calendar year. 605 Wyoming............. 43 776 51 571 36 i*37 1726 24 25,171 427 19,653 324 United States Com 23,680 227 1 4 15,849 499 438 pensation Com mission. Total........... i* 11,338i«1,363,08( 712,531 i* 1,545,787 17 10,806i«l,365,520 17 11,052jis 1,636,837 9,394 1,382,871 1Mines only. *Not reported. * Figures for New Orleans Parish. *Number of claims filed. *Estimated. i®Covers 8months only, Cases less than days’ disability not reported i* Records destroyed by fire, i* Covers 15 months. 14Includes cases reported from Sept. 7,1916, to Dec. 31,1916. i* Fatal cases in Connecticut and Kentucky are included under nonfatal cases, not being reported separately. i«Includes fatal accidents in Connecticut and Kentucky, the number of which is not reported. 17 Fatal cases in Connecticut are included under honfatal cases, not being reported separately. 18Includes fatal cases in Connecticut, the number of which is not reported. u 8 STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1911 TO 1921. Tennessee............. Texas............ .!... 49 12,638 181,441 3,133 12,044 224,808 3,053 90 3,072 Oregon................. Pennsylvania......... Rhode Island......... South Carolina...... South Dakota........ STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT}. 8 The notes in the above table on the scope of the data indicate th fact, to which reference has already been made, that the same rule are not in force in each jurisdiction. It should also be remarked tha most of the States exclude from the operation of the workmen' compensation act agricultural labor and domestic service, and a larg< ortion of them do not include steam railways. This latte. ision is of less importance in view of the fact that the stean railways are under the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which gathers detailed information regarding accidents in connection with their operation. While the number of nonfatal accidents is for the reason mentioned considerably short of what it would be if all the States recorded all “ tabulatable ” accidents, the record of fatalities is more complete or at least more uniform from State to State. It is therefore safer to base such conclusions as may be offered on fatalities rather than on the nonfatal accidents. S Of the years included in the table the year with the highest number of fatalities is 1918, with 12,531 recorded deaths. It is probable that this represents both greater hazard and intensified industrial activity, as simply a greater number working will, if the hazard is not reduced, give a greater number of casualties. It is known from other sources that a larger number of people were engaged in industry during 1918 than in any other year and that this year represented the peak of industrial activity m many respects. The rather steady decline in number of deaths from 1918 onward certainly reflects the influences of two factors, namely, a declining industrial activity and a renewal of accidept prevention effort which nad been somewhat lessened by the war. When the individual States are considered, Pennsylvania has in each year the highest fatality, New York having the next highest. This, beyond question, is largely due to the extent of their industries rather than to extraordinaryliazard. The fact that in 1921 Pennsyl vania had a larger fatality (1,924 deaths) than New York (1,170 deaths) is attributable to the preponderance in Pennsylvania of such industries as mining and the basic processes of iron and steel. Ohio, with 649 deaths and California, with 550 deaths, are next in order. Ohio has extensive mining operations and is a great manufacturing State. California also has mining on a large scale, which contributes to its casualty list; it also includes accidents in its extensive agricul tural industry, which industry most States exclude. In West Vir;inia, where mining is a very important industry, the number of atalities (429) is considerable. f STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920. Accident data for 1920 for individual States have been taken or compiled from the State reports and are here presented in a series of tables having a fairly uniform industrial classification, the classifica tion used being substantially that used in Massachusetts and Penn sylvania. It is sufficiently detailed to give, if the exposure were known, a very good idea of the relative hazards. If these groupings were used by the different States, each group being amplified to the extent desired by the particular State but presenting a total, it would greatly simplify the task of bringing the data together for such pur a ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920. 9 pose as the present^compilation. In some State reports the number of accidents classified by industry is the number of compensation claims filed or closed rather than the number of accidents reported. As the record of fatalities is more uniform than that for other items, as stated above, it will be made the basis of most of the comment. ARKANSAS. The notable item in Table 3, showing the fatal and nonfatal acci dents in Arkansas reported for 1920, is that the largest number of deaths (11) was in the lumber and its remanufacture industry. It is probable that agriculture was responsible for a considerable number of deaths, but agriculture is not included under the compen sation law. Table 3.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN ARKANSAS, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Number of accidents. Industry. Fatal. Non fatal. 3 23 Clay, glass, and stone........................................................................ Lumber and its remannfactnre......................................................................... Mercantile....................................................................................... Mines (not coal)............................................................................... Metals and products......................................................................... Printing ana publishing.................................................................... Public service......... ................................................................................. ..... Textiles................................. ..................................................... All other......................................................................................... 11 2 63 13 6 12 2 1 2 16 Total................................................................................. . 1,149 5 128 1,404 Total. 3 23 1,160 5 65 13 6 13 2 130 1,420 CALIFORNIA. Public service, which in California includes the railways, had in that State the greatest number of fatalities in 1920 (122). Next comes construction (63), then lumber (60), and mines (60), with agriculture just behind (59). Table 4.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN CALIFORNIA, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— Industry. Agriculture___________________ . __ ............ Chemicals_______________________ ............. Clay, glass, and stone...... ............................ ...... ............... Clothing........................................................................... Construction________ _____ ____ _. ______ Food products_________ ___ __________ _ Laundries________________________ ........... Leather and rubber............................................................ Lumber.- ....... ............................................................... Metals and metal products_____ _______ ____ ___ _ Mines (not coal) and quarries........ .................................... . ........and .................................................... Paper printing Public service.................................................................... Shipbuilding.. _ .................................................... . Textiles. . ..................................................................................... All other........................................................................... Total......... .............................................................. Total Perma Tempo accidents. Death. nent dis rary dis ability. ability. 59 11 7 63 17 1 60 14 60 4 122 26 1 147 592 125 43 23 6 261 103 21 14 268 287 170 54 143 144 4 263 1,929 4,102 1,964 705 227 8,003 5,154 362 462 4,649 6,880 4,491 808 8,867 4,118 132 16,960 67,884 4,286 2,018 735 233 8,327 5,274 383 477 4,977 7,181 4,721 866 9,132 4,288 137 17,370 70,405 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS, 10 IDAHO. In Idaho the lumber industry, with 43 deaths, heads the list of industries in fatalities, as shown in Table 5. Table 5.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN IDAHO, YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 31, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— Total Perma Tempo accidents. Death. nent dis rary dis ability. ability. Industry. Agriculture and stock ra isin g ......... . .......................................... Construction.......................................................................................... Lumber ............................................................................................... Mines .................................................................................................. Mercantile........................................................................................... Unclassified.............................. ........................................................... Total............................................................................................. 1 12 43 13 1 13 83 6 36 96 34 19 64 255 113 665 1,453 1,163 471 883 4,748 120 713 1,592 1,210 491 960 5,086 i Compensation claims allowed. ILLINOIS. Illinois is one of the States of large industrial importance with extremely varied occupations. The mines had the. greatest number of deaths in 1920 (171). The metals and metal products industry came next with 86 deaths, while public service and construction each had 68. The small number reported for agriculture is due to the fact that accidents are reported only for those agricultural employers who elect to come under the compensation act. Table 6.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS i IN ILLINOIS, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— Industry. Agriculture............................................................................................. Chemicals................................................................................................ Clay, glass, and stone........................................................................... Clothing.................................................................................................. Construction......................................................................................... Food products....................................................................................... Leather and rubber.............................................................................. Lumber................................................................................................... Mercantile.............................................................................................. Metals and metal products................................................................. Mines, coal.............................................................................................. Mines (not coal) and quarries............................................................. Municipalities........................................................................................ Paper and paper products................................................................... Printing and publishing...................................................................... Public service......................................................................................... Textiles................................................................................................... U nclassified............................................................................................ Total............................................................................................. 1Compensable accidents. Total Perma Tempo accidents. Death. nent dis rary dis ability. ability. 8 25 9 1 68 29 3 24 5 86 171 12 17 4 2 68 7 58 597 28 155 79 50 455 316 83 379 65 2,085 3,680 41 10 95 109 246 39 311 8,226 245 1,144 828 530 3,190 2,845 420 1,579 895 11,710 9,398 384 204 519 594 2,357 253 4,667 41,762 281 1,324 916 581 3,713 3,190 506 1,982 965 13,881 13,249 437 231 618 705 2,671 299 5,036 50,585 STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920, 11 INDIANA. It is not possible to separate the accidents reported in the Indiana records into fatal and nonfatal accidents. An extremely detailed clas sification of industry is used, from which it is difficult to reduce the record to the simpler form used in this bulletin. In 1921 the metals and metal products industry had the most serious casualty record, with coal mines second, public service third, and the lumber industry fourth. Table 7.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN INDIANA, 1920 AND 1921, BY INDUSTRIES. Industry. Year ending September 30— 1920 Agriculture........................................ Chemicals.......................................... Clay, glass, and stone...................... Clothing............................................. Construction..................................... Food................................................... Leather and rubber......................... Lumber............................................. Matt*,an tile Metal products................................. 189 156 1,614 135 2,731 2,452 454 3,355 1,176 17’101 Year ending September 30— Industry. 1921 1920 148 91 1,253 196 3,056 2,112 427 2,274 1,272 9,683 Mines, coal........................................ Mines (not coal) and quarries........ Municipal.......................................... Paper products................................. Printing............................................. Public sendee................................... Textiles.............................................. Unclassified...................................... Total........................................ 1921 4,222 4,851 477 698 32 31 682 589 248 175 4,843 4,248 154 136 2,973 3,156 42,994 34,396 KANSAS. The accident data for Kansas here shown cover two years, 1920 and 1921. Public service led in the number of fatalities with 57 and 24, respectively, mines following with 19 and 23. Agriculture, which would doubtless be of much interest, is not represented. Table 8.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN KANSAS, 1920 AND 1921, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— Industry. Permanent disability. Death. 1920 1921 Clay, glass, and stone............. Food products.......................... Lumber...................................... Metals and metal products... Mines, coal................................. Mines (not coal) and quarries. Oil and gas................................ Public service........................... Unclassified............................... Total. 1 5 4 19 2 13 57 17 1921 1 5 3 23 7 24 7 1 167 MARYLAND. 93 Temporary disability. 1920 1921 Total accidents. 1920 82 99 103 964 908 994 29 28 47 958 509 978 836 810 873 227 57 235 1,205 1,245 1,242 1,844 1,609 1,944 562 899 593 6,724 6,147 7,009 1921 84 924 32 519 840 57 1,271 1,657 927 6,311 In the records of Maryland shipbuilding is included with con struction, with the result that the fatalities in that group in 1920 (56) were considerably in excess of any other group. The metals and metal products industry came next (30) and public service (20) third. 12 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. T able 9.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS i IN MARYLAND, YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 31,1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Number of accidents. Industry. Fatal. Nonfatal. Total. Chemicals.................................................................................................................. Clay, glass, and stone.............................................................................................. Clothing..................................................................................................................... Construction2.......................................................................................................... Food products.......................................................................................................... Leather and rubber................................................................................................. Lumber..................................................................................................................... Metals and metal products.................................................................................... Paper and paper products..................................................................................... Printing and publishing......................................................................................... Public service........................................................................................................... Textiles...................................................................................................................... Unclassified............................................................................................................... Total................................................................................................................ i Compensation claims allowed. 10 3 12 56 2 30 4 6 20 10 153 62 441 29 2,438 284 210 100 1,188 204 198 510 126 751 6,541 72 444 41 2,494 284 210 102 1 218 208 204 530 126 761 6,694 2 Includes shipbuilding. MASSACHUSETTS. In the report from which Table 10 is drawn the main industrial divisions are subdivided in great detail; for instance, “textiles” is sub divided as follows: Carpet mills, cotton mills, dyeing, hemp and jute, knitting, lace, linen, print works, cordage, sails, silk mills, woolen mills, and unclassified. In Table 10 the number of accidents result ing in death and permanent and temporary disability are shown for the main industrial divisions only: Table 10.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— Industry. Agriculture ................ .................................. .................................... Chemicals................................................................................................ Clay, glass, and stone........................................................................... Clothing.................................................................................................. Construction........................................................................................... Food......................................................................................................... Leather................................................................................................... Lumber.................................................................................................... Mercantile............................................................................................... Metals and products............................................................................. Mines and quarries................................................................................ Paper....................................................................................................... Printing.................................................................................................. Public service......................................................................................... Textiles.................................................................................................... Unclassified............................................................................................. Total............................................................................................. Total Perma Tempo accidents. Death. nent dis rary dis ability. ability. 2 8 3 1 43 7 12 4 36 36 3 8 1 135 37 40 376 3 13 11 3 98 49 148 118 82 436 9 47 31 62 288 223 1,621 191 760 392 312 4,891 2,023 4,504 2,052 5,997 13,179 172 1,986 686 8,125 10,921 7,300 63,491 196 781 406 316 5,032 2,079 4,664 2,174 6,115 13,657 184 2.041 718 8,322 11,246 7,563 65,488 The public service group, which includes steam railways, had the heaviest fatalitv in 1920 (135); construction (43), textiles (37), metals and products (36), and mercantile concerns (36) following in order. These figures are less suggestive from the standpoint of accident pre vention than they should be, because of the lack of data regarding STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920. I On exposure. So far as number of fatalities is concerned, the textiles group (37) and the metals and metal products group (36) are almost on an equality. It is known from other sources that the hazard is by no means equal, but what the relative hazard may be can not be dis covered from these figures. However, Massachusetts has also tabu lated its accident experience on the basis of working days lost, and from this tabulation it appears that the metals and metal products group had losses equivalent to 786,174 days, while textiles had losses equivalent to 684,526 days. This gives an idea of the relative sever ity, but the factor of exposure still is needed to make the indication precise. Table 11 shows the percentage of accidents due to specified causes and of total days lost from each cause. T able 11.—PER CENT OF ACCIDENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 1920 DUE TO EACH SPEC IFIED CAUSE AND OF DAYS LOST. Per cent. Accident cause. Machinery.................................................................................................................................... Vehicles......................................................................................... ............................................. Explosives and hot substances................................................................................................ Falls of persons........................................................................................................................... Falling objects not handled..................................................................................................... Handling objects......................................................................................................................... Handling tools............................................................................................................................ Stepping on or striking objects............................................................................................... Other causes................................................................................................................................ Total................................................................................................................................... Acci dents. 23.4 6.3 4.6 14.0 3.7 29.2 7.3 6.0 5.5 100.0 Days lost. 29.1 21.3 7.7 14.1 4.2 13.0 3.6 1.7 5.3 100.0 A comparison of these percentages will at once disclose that the frequency and severity of accidents do not move together. The cause group “ Vehicles” is a conspicuous instance. It had only 6.3 per cent of the accidents but accounted for 21.3 per cent of the days lost. Handling, however, in the two forms specified had 36.5 per cent of the accidents with but 16.6 per cent of the days lost. The losses are certainly the better index of where prevention is most needed. MINNESOTA. The importance of mining in Minnesota is indicated by the number of fatalities therein (56 in 1920), lumber coming second (34 deaths), and construction third (23 deaths). The small number of deaths (13) in the food products industry in this great milling State may indicate that the industry is comparatively nonhazardous or may mean that the processes of milling are so largely automatic that the number of employees is small but that they are individually exposed to somewhat high hazard. 39554°—23—Bull. 339---- 2 14 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. Table 13.-N U M B E R OF ACCIDENTS IN MINNESOTA, YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1920, INDUSTRIES. BY Accidents resulting in— Total Perma Tempo accidents. Death. nent dis rary dis ability. ability. Industry. Agriculture............................................................................................. Clothing.................................................................................................. Construction.......................................................................................... Chemicals................................................................................................ Clay......................................................................................................... Food........................................................................................................ Leather................................................................................................... Lumber................................................................................................... Mercantile.............................................................................................. Metals..................................................................................................... Mines (not coal) and quarries............................................................. Municipal................................................................................................ Paper....................................................................................................... Printing.................................................................................................. Public service......................................................................................... Textiles................................................................................................... Unclassified............................................................................................ Total............................................................................................. 1 23 1 1 13 1 34 9 13 56 6 3 is 25 201 1 1 120 14 28 154 21 214 52 195 136 19 26 18 27 16 141 1,183 43 37 1,447 123 256 1,444 112 1,223 653 1,430 2,001 121 217 115 427 99 1,546 11,354 45 38 1,589 138 285 1,611 134 1,471 714 1,638 2,193 206 246 133 469 115 1,713 12,738 MONTANA. The marked preponderance of mining among Montana industries is indicated by the fact that the fatalities (558) were, during the five-year period, considerably more than two-thirds of all recorded in the State. The metals and products (66 deaths), construction (41 deaths), and lumber (36 deaths) groups follow in order. T able 13.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN MONTANA FOR 5-YEAR PERIOD JULY 1, 1915, TO JUNE 30, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— ndustry. Clay and stone....................................................................................... Construction.......................................................................................... Food........................................................................................................ Leather................................................................................................... Lumber................................................................................................... Mercantile............................................................................................. Metals and products............................................................................. Mines, coal.............................................................................................. Mines (not coal) and quarries............................................................. Municipal..............................................................................................I Printing and publishing................................................ .............. Public service........................................................................................ Textiles................................................................................................... Unclassified......................................................................................... T otal.......................................................................................... Total Perma Tempo accidents. Death. nent dis rary dis ability. ability. 2 41 10 36 1 66 61 497 1 1 31 35 782 1 59 28 82 10 109 76 287 5 19 22 698 65 2,036 1,173 1,629 304 2,960 1,832 17,926 ' 108 125 770 7 898 29,834 68 2,136 1,211 1,747 315 3,135 1,969 18,719 109 131 820 7 955 31,314 STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920. 15 NEVADA. Nevada is notable as one of two States which has undertaken to determine exposure, as expressed by “full-year workers.” The other State which has made a similar effort is Oregon. The exposure is not sufficient in either case to warrant accepting the rates as typical, but a comparison of them is interesting and suggestive. Of the industries which have hitherto been covered for any con siderable period, erection of structural steel has registered the highest severity rate (25.9 days per 1,000 hours exposure, in 1920). For Nevada lumber manufacture, including lumbering, the severity rate in that year was 28.0 days. Metal mines had the largest fatality (19 deaths) but not the highest severity rate (15.5 days). This further emphasizes the necessity of knowing the amount of exposure, such as Nevada has secured, if precise relations are to be understood. T able 14.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN NEVADA, 1920, NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORK ERS, AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES, BY INDUSTRIES Industry. Construction............... ................................... Food................................................................. Lumber............................................................ Metals............................................................... Mines (not coal)............................................. Municipal........................................................ Public service................................................. Unclassified..................................................... Total...................................................... Accidents resulting in— Accident Accident xUIlfrequency severity Total rates year (per rates (per Per Tem acci 1,000,000 work 1,000 porary dents. hours’ ex hours’ ers. Death. manent ex dis dis posure). posure). ability. ability. 73 186 273 2,381 3,736 2,119 738 1,104 10,610 1 3 3 19 4 2 1 33 NEW JERSEY. 4 2 5 16 64 11 2 119 113 14 30 46 43 37 860 1,030 18 33 54 160 769 58 41 43 1,176 82 59 66 22 69 9 18 14.3 13.3 28.0 5.1 15.5 5.3 11.7 37 9.7 The industrial conditions in New Jersey were much more uniform than those in most of the States in the two years covered by Table 15 (1920 and 1921). The fatalities in 1920 and 1921 were 285 and 282, respectively, while the total accidents were 28,841 and 28,036, respectively. The distribution is also remarkably uniform. Among the industry groups chemicals lead in fatalities (47), with metals (38), construction (31), and shipbuilding (25) following. STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. 16 T able 15.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN NEW JERSEY, YEARS ENDING JUNE 30, 1920 AND 1921, BY INDUSTRIES. Fatal accidents. Industry. 1920 Chemicals.......................................................... Clay................................................................... Clothing............................................................ Construction.................... I.............................. Food................................................................... Leather............................................................. Metals................................................................ Mines (not coal) and quarries...................... Paper................................................................. Printing............................................................ Shipbuilding..................................................... Textiles.............................................................. Unclassified...................................................... Total...................................................... 1921 47 6 2 31 16 12 38 1 5 25 8 94 285 33 5 1 44 10 8 42 11 23 9 96 282 Nonfatal accidents. Total accidents 1920 1921 1920 1921 1,708 414 93 5,965 381 586 7,231 83 81 65 2,792 269 8,888 28,556 1 326 349 348 6,951 529 676 5,226 215 154 67 1,997 1,092 8,824 27,754 1 755 1 359 *354 349 6 995 J539 684 5,268 226 154 67 2,020 1,101 8,920 28,036 5 996 397 598 7,269 84 86 65 2,817 277 8,982 28,841 OKLAHOMA. In Oklahoma in 1920 the oil and gas industry lead in fatal cases (36), coal mines (25) and metal mines (15) being next in order. As in most States, construction had a notable amount of fatal injury (18 cases). Table 1 6 .—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN OKLAHOMA, YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 1,1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— Total Perma Tempo accidents Death. nent dis rary dis ability. ability. Industry. Construction........................................................................................... L u m b er................................................................................. -........ Mercantile............................................................................................... Metals and products............................................................................. Mines, coal.............................................................................................. Mines (not coal) and quarries......................................................... Oil and gas.............................................................................................. Printing and publishing...................................................................... Public service......................................................................................... Unclassified.................... ....................................................................... Total............................................................................................. 28 3 7 6 25 15 36 5 15 130 5 35 8 18 19 23 42 110 166 3 9 63 501 612 1,567 605 1,074 1,322 1,823 1,045 3,809 7,619 110 732 1,765 22,083 617 1,620 613 1,095 1,348 1,852 1,112 3,934 7,821 113 746 1,843 22,714 OREGON. Oregon shares with Nevada the distinction of having assembled the facts regarding exposure and formulating some significant rates on the basis of them. A comparison of the frequency and severity rates for 1920 will emphasize again the fact that without both of these rates it is impossible to understand the situation in any given industry. Of the 71,166 full-year workers listed by the industrial commission more than one-third (29,584) were engaged in logging and lumbering operations. Of these logging had a fatality rate in 1920 of 6.93 cases per 1,000 full-year workers. This may be compared with 3.62 in coal mining for the whole country. The severity rate (days lost per STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920.. 17 1,000 hours’ exposure) for Oregon logging operations was 21.56, which may be compared with 25.9 in the erection of structural steel in the same year. The operation of Oregon logging railways involved in 1920 a fatality rate of 6.30 per 1,000 full-year workers as against 1.76 for railway trainmen the country over. However, yard brakemen on all steam roads had a rate of 6.67. Construction had a severity rate (per 1,000 hours’ exposure) of 9.11 days. This is about the same as that found elsewhere when it has been possible to calculate rates. T able 17.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN OREGON, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— Industry. Agriculture.................................. Chemicals..................................... Clay, glass, etc............................. Clothing........................................ Construction................................ Food and allied products.......... Leather and rubber.................... Lumber and its remanufacture. Logging....................................... Logging railways........................ Metals and metal products....... Mercantile.................................... Mines, coal................................... Mines (not coal) and quarries.. Municipalities............................. Paper and printing.................... Public service.............................. Shipbuilding............................... Textiles........................................ Unclassified................................. Total.................................. FuUyear workers. 1,681 165 460 319 10,068 4,678 255 17,524 9,520 2,540 4,129 1,726 65 918 311 2,389 1,507 4,223 1,263 7,425 71,166 Rates for industrial groups of 2,000 or over. Frequency Severity Perma Tempo (per (per nent rary Total. 1,000,000 Death. disa 1,000 disa hours’ hours’ bility. bility. exposure). exposure). 16 1 24 66 16 2 3 5 6 5 144 122 135 13 1 27 28 64 4 60 1 21 22 112 1,670 1,798 732 28 703 4 29 25 330 3,836 4,190 144 1,979 2,189 247 34 297 45 1,022 1,069 89 6 95 22 24 2 20 214 237 22 19 3 17 401 418 4 142 151 47 1,009 1,062 6 114 120 707 37 665 858 12, 387 13,389 59.53 52.16 72.72 76.65 38.97 86.31 9.11 2.94 10 36 21.56 20.24 5.67 58.33 83.82 2.30 6.09 PENNSYLVANIA. The industries of Pennsylvania are so varied and extensive that any presentation of them is important and impressive, but in addition the Pennsylvania report for 1920 presents the relation of the industries to accident occurrence in a more elaborate fashion than has ever been attempted hitherto. In Table 18 are shown fatal and nonfatal accidents for 1920 and 1921. The size of the coal-mining interests of the State are seen in the fact that of 2,271 deaths in such mines in 1920 there were 1,019 in the mines of Pennsylvania, nearly one-half of all. Public service, which includes the steam and electric railways of the State, is second in fatalities, having had 535 deaths. Metals and products with 363 deaths and construction with 218 deaths are important industrial groups. 18 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. Table 18.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1920 AND 1921, BY INDUSTRIES. Fatal accidents. Industry. 1921 1920 62 58 8 218 32 15 34 27 363 1,019 35 45 12 535 9 2 9 10 11 24 2,528 Chemicals................................................................................................ Clay, glass, and stone........................................................................... C lothing.................................................................. .................. Construction.......................................................................................... Food products....................................................................................... Leather and rubber........... ................................................................. Lumber and its remanufacture......................................................... Mercantile.............................................................................................. Metals and metal products................................................................. Mines, coal.............................................................................................. Mines (not coal) and quarries............................................................ Municipal............................................................................................... Printing and publishing.................................................................... Public service....................................................................................... Textiles................................................................................................. Unclassified: Beverages........................................................................................ Hotels aptd restaurants................................................................. Jobbers and warehouses.......................................................... Laundries..................................................................................... Tobacco........................................................................................ Other................................................................................................ Total........................................................................................ Nonfatal accidents. 1920 72 36 5 163 22 7 25 38 155 904 26 48 17 328 11 7 5 8 2 1 44 1,924 2,571 5,678 1,203 12,702 3,286 1,915 3,559 3,827 49,430 46,768 1,554 1,128 2,357 28,381 2,335 475 703 1,286 150 216 2,927 172,451 1921 2,223 4,092 1,305 10,667 3,527 1,559 2,757 4,165 24,406 49,852 ] %488 1,887 1,965 20,219 2,406 505 733 1,283 179 224 2,831 138,273 A summary of the accidents from 1916 to 1921, classified by industries, appears in Table 19. The totals show a marked decline from year to year, except for an increase in 1920, due undoubtedly to increased industrial activity. The metals and metal products industry leads markedly in the earlier years, but thereafter declines rapidly until at the end of the period it is much below coal mines. This change is due to the fact that the hazards of metal production and working are more readily controlled by the safety efforts of recent years than are those of coal mining. The total number of accidents covered by this summary is 1,136,060. Table 19.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1916 TO 1921, BY INDUSTRIES. 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 Chemicals............................................................ 5,918 Clay, glass, and stone........................................ 7,179 Clothing................................................................ 2,037 Construction....................................................... 15,146 Food..................................................................... 5,101 Leather and rubber........................................... 2,329 Lumber and its remanufacture....................... 4,955 Mercantile............................................................ 4,798 Metals and metal products............................... 95,986 Mines, coal.......................................................... 52,537 Mines (not coal) and quarries......................... 2,420 983 Municipal............................................................ Printing and publishing................................... 3,514 Public service................................. .................. 36,571 Textiles................................................................ 3,888 Unclassified: Beverages.................................................... 1,682 Hotels and restaurants.............................. 1,125 Jobbers and warehouses............................ 1,637 436 Laundries................................................... 197 Tobacco........................................................ Other............................................................ 7,177 Total.......................................................... 255,616 3,435 7,012 1,652 13,384 4,300 1,939 4,433 4,129 75,131 55,128 2,354 1,258 2,534 37,553 3,145 1,453 968 1,244 347 187 6,204 227,880 3,039 4,727 1,107 9,190 2,991 1,424 3,118 2,970 57,134 50,249 1,634 968 1,878 32,625 2,209 877 669 840 233 136 6,826 184,844 2,274 4,242 916 8,209 3,219 1,655 3,150 2,888 40,558 44,067 1,446 1,026 1,897 26,025 2,084 689 583 1,064 153 142 6,257 152,5^ 2,633 5,736 1,211 12,920 3,318 1,930 3,593 3,854 49,793 47,787 1,589 1,173 2,369 28,916 2,344 477 712 1,296 161 216 2,951 174,979 Industry. 1921 Total. 2,295 19,594 4,128 33,024 1,310 8,233 10,830 69,679 3,549 22,478 1,566 10,843 2,782 22,031 4,203 22,842 24,561 343,163 50,756 300,524 1,514 10,957 1,935 7,343 1,982 14,174 20,547 182,237 2,417 16,087 512 5,690 738 4,795 1,291 7,372 181 1,511 225 1,103 2,875 32,380 140,197 1,136,060 STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920. 19 Table 20 brings out the relation between the several industries and the various causes of accident. In a number of industries “ handling tools or objects” as a cause of accident is far in excess of any other item. When, however, fatalities are considered, this cause group is the lowest (98). “ Power vehicles” had the heaviest fatality (758 deaths), this being due of course to the inclusion of railways. The large number of deaths (647) caused by “ falling objects” is due to accidents in coal mines, where falls of rock are of frequent occurrence. Table 20.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES AND CAUSES. Accidents due to specified cause. ± Industry. Chemicals and allied products............. Clay, glass, and stone products........... Clothing manufacture........................... Construction........................................... Food products............................... ......... Leather and rubber goods.................... Lumber and its remanufacture........... Mercantile................................................ Metals and metal products.................. Mines, coal............................................... Mines (not coal) and quarries.............. Municipalities......................................... Paper and printing industries............. Public service.......................................... Textiles.................................................... Miscellaneous.......................................... Liquor and beverages........................... Hotels and restaurants......................... Jobbers and wholesalers........................ Laundries................................................ Tobacco.................................................... Total.............................................. DEGREE OF INJURY. Fatal......................................................... Permanent disability............................ Temporary disability, compensable.. Temporary disability, noncompensable...................................................... Han Power Mis Hot Falling Fall of dling Ma sub ve cella Total. chinery. stances. objects. person. tools or hicles. neous. objects. 292 210 • 176 449 582 606 216 632 32 494 30 180 396 1,733 2,664 1,184 593 141 183 567 510 56 103 228 32 222 1,351 374 66 485 176 986 10,170 3,877 4,018 4,257 1,829 2,039 12,697 3,220 68 286 165 165 60 90 45 367 60 124 286 880 1,425 1,177 1,617 4,104 864 95 -78 409 122 606 101 688 72 20 25 103 24 207 58 74 20 65 148 240 8 59 10 31 5 30 84 21,935 8,721 22,378 20,187 273 93 13,067 8,502 152 919 435 2,672 369 659 305 25 145 4,467 633 1,843 1,278 207 349 54 731 248 1,200 130 284 1,252 336 553 20,858 2,016 4,597 15,793 7,704 4,505 617 151 137 244 167 200 715 80 224 11,873 5,924 2,796 42 548 308 868 193 373 172 28 57 238 10 101 543 134 146 27 8 18 6 78 13 65,398 18,369 17,991 2,633 5,736 1,211 12,920 3,318 1,930 3,593 3,854 49,793 47,787 1,589 1,173 2,369 28,916 2,344 2,951 477 712 1,296 161 216 174,979 647 236 98 758 171 2,528 345 21 18 21 13 49 102 317 5,035 13,089 11,862 32,099 10,514 7,615 93,281 3,320 8,624 8,076 33,152 6,995 10,184 78,853 In Table 21 the accidents in the various industries are classified by nature of injury. In 1920 “ crushes and bruises” (71,128) were very much in excess of other injuries, the coal mines furnishing the largest number (21,270). “ Cuts and lacerations” (44,828) come next, these injuries also being most numerous in coal mining (13,531). The de cline from year to year in number of accidents is evident in the table, being distributed quite evenly among the different kinds of .injury. STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. 20 Table 21.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES AND NATURE OF INJURY. Accidents, classified by nature of injury. Industry. Am As- Burns Crushes puta phyxand and ia- scalds. tions. tions. bruises. Chemicals and allied products..................................... 17 12 Clay, glass, and stone products........................... . . . . . 41 13 Clothing manufacture,,,, u . 8 3 Construction......................... 71 30 3 39 Food products................ . 3 Leather and rubber goods.. 26 Lumber and its remanu6 facture................................ 119 5 Mercantile............................. 32 Metals and metal products. 638 92 70 Mines, coal............................ 257 Mines (not coal) and quar 6 ries...................................... Municipalities...................... 7 7 Paper and printing indus 3 50 tries.................................... Public service...................... 168 27 2 Textiles................................. 25 6 40 Miscellaneous....................... 6 2 Liquor and beverages......... 1 5 Hotels and restaurants....... 1 Jobbers and warehouses... 7 1 2 Laundries............................. 2 Tobacco................................. Total........................... 1,566 287 YEAR. 1916......................................... 1917......................................... 1918......................................... 1919......................................... 1920......................................... 1,566 O rand to ta l__________ 355 363 55 585 198 105 59 85 5,654 1,754 52 53 101 1,691 132 138 30 95 25 38 1 11,569 17,282 15,450 12,934 10,041 287 11,569 66,736 860 1,914 329 4,845 1,053 640 1,055 1.264 19,840 21,270 712 383 937 13,454 813 892 144 167 436 55 65 71,128 Cuts Sprains and Drown Frac Her Punc and Un lacera ing. tures. nia. tures disloca classi tions. tions. fied. 515 2,013 381 2,904 967 556 1,460 948 12,431 13,531 430 209 679 5,583 655 799 147 235 277 25 83 44,828 87,071 71,868 82,307 60,565 71,831 51,021 58,988 41,318 71,128 44,828 371,325 269,600 271 39 422 54 79 16 5 1,630 161 331 34 128 36 336 28 1 523 47 2 3,871 527 5 3,778 338 4 148 17 252 12 190 23 6 1,897 223 216 23 414 44 61 4 72 9 172 31 12 1 13 1 23 14,816 1,668 148 348 68 253 613 50 93 32 215 1,017 1,521 151 473 177 43 120 250 66 220 279 31 266 619,i 64 1,767 4,639 332 1,628 4,995 161 31 180 9 53 180 17 99 271 16 582 5,125 160 174 266 38 175 394 49 19 55 9 32 81 15 85 244 18 1 2 24 32 15 4 7,078 20,682 1,334 15,596 1,254 8,387 17,254 1,792 7,140 15,309 1,576 4,997 12,879 1,371 4,754 23 14,816 1,668 7,078 75,854 7,661 32,356 21,804 28,599 24,122 16,554 21,404 2,267 18,007 962 20,682 1,334 106,019 49,716 Table 22 presents the accidents classified by location of injury. As would be expected, the greater number of accidents are to the hands and fingers, there being in 1920, 55,614, the trunk coming next, with 30,235. The 11,597 cases of eye injury seem to be excessive, such injuries being preventable by the use of adequate eye protection such as is now obtainable. 21 STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920. T able 2 2 .—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES AND LOCATION OF INJURY. Accidents, classified by location of injury. Industry. Head Fin Legs. Feet. Toes. Trunk. and Eyes. Arms. Hands. gers. face. Chemicals and allied products___ Clay, glass, and stone products... Clothing manufacture..................... Construction..................................... Food products........., ....................... Leather and rubber goods............. Lumber and its remanufacture... Mercantile.......................................... Metals and metal products............ Mines, coal........................................ Mines (not coal) and quarries....... Municipalities................................... Paper and printing industries....... Public service.................................. Textiles.............................................. Miscellaneous.................................... Liquor and beverages..................... Hotels and restaurants................... Jobbers and warehouses................. Laundries.......................................... Tobacco............................................. Total........................................ YEAR. 1916..................................................... 1917..................................................... 1918..................................................... 1919..................................................... 1920................................................. Grand total............................ 567 845 135 2,599 618 325 489 841 6,404 9,341 279 289 347 5,644 330 631 85 127 288 22 29 30,235 250 444 65 1,318 202 117 181 266 3,388 5,229 166 121 122 2,971 128 220 22 43 88 8 5 15,354 151 356 22 719 60 82 118 67 4,772 3,147 104 42 61 1,664 94 88 17 6 22 2 3 11,597 177 377 86 749 267 132 176 335 2,487 1,998 76 92 163 1,453 213 231 46 71 97 12 10 9,248 314 982 189 1,395 560 288 462 591 5,451 4,864 186 150 276 2,898 387 399 82 150 196 29 35 19,884 421 1,205 552 1,907 791 592 1,297 657 11,512 9,060 270 90 847 4,583 687 678 97 163 191 48 82 35,730 272 498 58 1,477 308 126 362 471 4,116 5,721 195 194 175 3,257 168 296 38 67 154 12 20 17,985 379 102 763 266 87 17 2,252 504 388 124 201 67 398 110 514 112 7,860 3,803 6,591 1,836 230 83 160 35 283 95 4,594 1,852 252 85 326 82 68 22 76 9 215 45 25 3 25 7 25,687 9,259 33,440 35,380 31,176 25,812 30,235 156,043 21,631 18,985 16,474 13,621 15,354 86,065 20,665 15,822 11,727 9,604 11,597 69,415 15,129 13,217 10,379 7,955 9,248 55,928 30,513 26,130 20,515 17,661 19,884 114,703 62,656 49,015 37,265 31,132 35,730 215,798 22,954 22,541 19,288 15,976 17,985 98,744 34,334 34,496 27,595 22,810 25,687 144,922 14,294 12,294 10,425 7,973 9,259 54,245 WASHINGTON. The accident data of the State of Washington shows for 1921 a large number of deaths in the logging industry (127). The operations of lumber manufacture come next, with 48 cases; coal mines with 18 deaths and construction with 17 deaths come next in order. T able 23.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN WASHINGTON, YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1921, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— Industry. Chemicals............................................................................................... Clay......................................................................................................... Construction.......................................................................................... Food........................................................................................................ Logging.................................................................................................. Lumber.................................................................................................. Mercantile.............................................................................................. Metals..................................................................................................... Mines, coal............................................................................................. Mines, not coal...................................................................................... Municipal............................................................................................... Paper...................................................................................................... Printing.................................................................................................. Public service........................................................................................ Shipbuilding.......................................................................................... Textiles................................................................................................... Unclassified........................................................................................... Total............................................................................................. Total Perma Tempo accidents. Death. nent dis rary dis ability. ability. 1 1 17 3 127 48 2 9 18 3 11 1 1 8 10 1 26 287 3 6 140 99 462 665 15 142 79 25 63 35 23 23 87 20 82 1,969 18 27 560 492 1,733 2,158 39 561 348 79 366 92 35 150 252 54 351 7,315 22 34 717 594 2,322 5,193 56 712 445 107 440 128 59 181 349 75 459 . 9,571 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL, ACCIDENTS. 22 WISCONSIN. In the accident data reported by Wisconsin only a few of what are considered the more important industries in the State appear separately. Each of these is very elaborately analyzed as to the causes of the accidents. In 1920 the wood industries had the largest number of deaths (38), construction (30 deaths) coming next. Table 24.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN WISCONSIN, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Accidents resulting in— Industry. Construction............................................................................ Metal working......................................................................... Mines and quarries................................................................ Paper and paper products................................................... Wood industries..................................................................... Death. 30 22 3 10 38 Total Permanent Temporary accidents. disability. disability. 174 532 24 87 306 1,510 4,005 307 929 2,543 1,714 4,559 334 1,026 2,887 Table 25, taken from the Wisconsin report, is a summary, by causes, of six years' experience and consequently is of sufficient volume to be fairly typical. An important feature of the table is the column containing the number of days lost from each cause. These are determined by the application of the standard weighting scale of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions.3 The gross amounts of these time losses are not very significant, since a large loss may simply indicate a group of large size. How ever, by determining the average loss per case a very definite indica tion of relative hazard is obtained. Machinery as a whole had 221 days loss per case. Of the different kinds of machinery, transmis sion apparatus is most hazardous, with 588 days lost per case. Hoist ing apparatus, with 343 days lost per case, is next m order. Only two of the other main cause groups had an average time loss per case as great as that for machinery—vehicles (275 days) and hot sub stances, electricity, etc. (224 days). 3 For scale of time losses for weighting industrial accident disabilities so as to show severity of accidents adopted by the International Association of Industrial Accident B oards and Commissions see U . S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bui. No. 276: Standardization of industrial accident statistics, p. 18 1920. STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR T able 2 5 .—NUMBER 23 OF COMPENSABLE ACCIDENTS AND TIME LOST THEREBY, IN WISCONSIN, 1915 TO 1920, BY CAUSES. Accidents resulting in— Accident cause. Aver age Total days days Perma Tem acci Total lost. lost nent porary dents. Death. disabil per disabil case. ity ity Machinery....................................................................... 232 Engines and motors............................................... 9 Hoisting apparatus................................................ 108 Leather working.................................................... 2 Metal working......................................................... 24 2 Punch presses................................................... 7 Paper........................................................................ 1 Textiles..................................................................... 31 Transmission........................................................... W oodworking.......................................................... 25 12 Saws................................................................... 25 Unclassified.............................................................. Hot substances, electricity, etc.................................. 151 Falling objects............................................................... 152 Falls of person................................................................ 160 Handling objects and tools.......................................... 80 Vehicles........................................................................... 176 Unclassified..................................................................... 103 Total..................................................................... 1,054 3,991 68 385 165 1,439 545 204 55 83 1,164 547 428 185 283 303 1,225 256 525 6,768 16,982 660 2,728 585 5,111 762 1,271 389 428 4,125 1,824 1,685 5,382 7,405 10,869 27,059 5,108 8,809 81,614 21,205 4,691,400 221.24 118,068 160.20 737 3,221 1,105,672 343.27 752 122,342 162.69 6,574 1,106,139 168.26 329,358 251.61 1,309 225,843 152.39 1,482 80,795 181.36 445 318,566 587.76 542 5,314 1,053,719 198.29 522,735 219.36 2,383 560,256 262.05 2,138 5,718 1.279.182 223.71 7,840 1.423.182 181.53 11,332 1,695,767 149.64 28,364 1,781,827 62.82 5,540 1,524,010 275.09 9,437 1,402,689 148.64 89,436 13,798,057 154.28 WYOMING. In Wyoming coal mining, as in all States where it is a prominent industry, is the chief cause of casualty. The deaths in this industry in 1920 number 28 out of 43 recorded for the State. The oil industry, with 6 deaths, is next in order. Table 26.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN WYOMING, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES Accidents resulting in— Industry. Chemicals.............................................................................................. Clay......................................................................................................... Clothing................................................................................................. Construction.......................................................................................... Food........................................................................................................ Leather................................................................................................. Lumber........................................................................................ ......... Mercantile.............................................................................................. Metals..................................................................................................... Mines, coal.............................................................................................. Mines (not coal) and quarries............................................................. Municipal................................................................................................ Oil............................................................................................................ Printing.................................................................................................. Public service......................................................................................... Textile................................................................................................... Unclassified............................................................................................ Total............................................................................................. Total Perma Tempo accidents. Death. nent dis rary dis ability. ability. 2 2 1 1 28 2 6 1 43 21 8 4 4 3 64 i 41 1 1 10 158 2 51 12 9 8 4 375 4 106 2 13 32 618 4 74 20 13 13 8 467g 1 153 3 15 42 819 24 STATISTICS OE INDUSTRIAL, ACCIDENTS. SUMMARY. INDUSTRIES. In Table 27 will be found a summary of the number of accidents in 1920 in 21 States, classified by industries. The total accidents recorded are 599,781. Omitting Wisconsin, because so small a number of industries are tabulated, and also agriculture and public service, because of the lack of uniformity in the practice of the several States, the percentage distribution of the accidents in the several industries is shown. The following is the order of the more im portant: Metals and metal products, 25.2 per cent; coal mining, 15.5 per cent; construction, 10.5 per cent; lumber, 7.9 per cent. This percentage distribution does not afford a satisfactory measure of hazard, since a high percentage may reflect the size of a given industry rather than its hazard. For example, it is known that coal mining, which stands second in percentage of accident cases, is considerably more dan gerous than metals and products, which has the largest percentage. For comparison, the distribution of 1,136,060 Pennsylvania acci dents for a period of 6 years (1916 to 1921) is introduced in a parallel column. Inspection immediately detects the greater relative volume of certain industries in Pennsylvania. For example, metals and metal products have 38 instead of 25 per cent as in the summary, and coal mining has 30 as against 16 per cent. This comparison, however, illustrates further that percentage dis tribution is an unsafe guide regarding hazard. The 38 per cent of Pennsylvania accidents classified under “ Metals and metal products’’ reflect the size of the group employed in those industries and the liability to numerous minor injuries in some branches. The 30 per cent in coal mining also indicates the size of the industry, but does not emphasize properly the large proportion of serious injury. It is greatly to be regretted that two of the great industrial States namely, New York ana Ohio, have not recently published statistics which could be incorporated in this summary. The other 20 com pensation States, which do not record an industrial classification which can be used, form in the aggregate an important element which it is also highly desirable to have represented. T able 27.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS Arkan Industry. sas. Agriculture.............................................. Chemicals................................................. 3 Clay, glass, and stone............................ Clothing........................ _......................... Construction............................................ 23 Food products........................................ Leather and rubber............................... Lumber and its remanufacture........... 1,160 Lumber: Logging................................... Lumber: Logging railways.................. 5 Mercantile................................................ Metals and metal products................... 13 Mines, coal............................................... 65 Mines (not coal) and quarries............. Municipal................................................. Oil and gas............................................... Paper and products............................... Printing and publishing....................... 6 Public service.......................................... 13 Shipbuilding........................................... Textiles.................................................... 2 Unclassified............................................. 130 Total.............................................. 1,420 1Includes shipbuilding. IN SPECIFIED STATES, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES. Cali Indi Ken Mary fornia. Idaho. Illinois. ana. Kansas. tucky. land. 4,286 281 120 189 2,018 1,324 156 88 72 735 916 1,614 103 490 444 233 581 135 79 41 8,327 713 3,713 2,731 878 i 2,494 5,274 3,190 2,452 994 1,428 284 477 506 454 179 210 4,977 1,592 1,982 3,355 102 47 1,294 1,965 1,176 810 13,881 17,101 978 2,511 13,249 4,222 873 5,968 1,210 437 477 235 169 231 32 1,242 419 618 682 34 447 705 248 102 9,132 2,671 4,843 i,944 309 4,288 137 299 154 211 17,753 960 5,036 2,973 593 1,605 70,405 5,086 50,585 42,994 7,009 16,155 7,181 4,721 491 1,218 208 204 530 126 761 6,694 25 STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920. Table 87.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN SPECIFIED STATES, 1920, BY INDUSTRIES— Concluded. Industry. Agriculture................................... f!hpmir>als .. .............................. f!lay; glasSj ami stnnA.................. . Clothing. /.................................... Construction................................. Food products (including beverages). Leather and rubber........................ Lumber and its remanufactures....... Lumber: Logging........................... Lumber: Legging railways.............. Mercantile................ ................. Metals and metal products.............. Mines, coal........ t ......................... Mines'(not coal) and quarries.......... Municipal......'........*.................... Oil and gas.................................... Paper and products........................ Printing and publishing.................. Public service...........I. ................. Shipbuilding. --............................. Textiles.... ................................... Unclassified............... .................. Total..................... ............. Industry. Agriculture................................... Chemicals................... ................. Clay, glass, and stone..................... Clothing....................................... Construction................................. Food products............................... Leather and rubber........................ Lumber and its remanufacture........ Lumber: Logging.......................... Lumber: Logging railways.............. Mercantile.................................... Metals and metal products.............. Mines, coal.................................... Mines (not coal) and quarries........... Municipal................................................ Oil ana gas.................................... Paper and products........................ Printing and publishing.................. Public service................................ Shipbuilding................................. Textiles........................................ Unclassified.................................. Total................................... Massa Minne Mon Ne Penn New Okla Oregon. sylva chu setts. sota. tana.* vada. Jersey. homa. nia. 196 781 406 316 5,032 2,079 4,664 2,174 45 138 285 38 1,589 1,611 134 1,471 6,115 13,651 184 7i4 1.638 2,041 718 8,271 11,246 7,614 65,488 68 2,136 1,211 1,747 315 3.135 1,969 2,193 18,710 109 206 246 133 131 469 820 71 115 955 1,713 12,738 31,314 160 769 58 7,269 84 617 1,620 613 1,095 1,348 1,852 1,112 3,934 7,821 135 28 64 22 1,798 772 29 6,677 2,189 297 95 1,069 24 237 22 2,633 5,736 1,211 12,920 3,795 1,930 3,593 3,854 49,793 47,787 1,589 1,173 86 113 65 418 2,369 746 151 28,916 2,8i7 1,062 277 120 2,344 43 8,982 1,843 666 5,336 1,176 28,841 22,714 13,389 174,979 41 Per cent o? total Per acci South Tennes Wash Wiscon Wyo cent of dents in Da total Total. Penn acci sylva kota.3 see.3 ington. sin. ming. dents.4 nia. 19161921. 102 5oi 630 47 375 504 67 1,366 1,481 295 3,005 59 45 688 1,229 2,885 1,256 211 306 183 442 641 475 2,943 2,724 17,189 40 137 22 34 717 594 5,193 2,322 56 712 445 107 440 i.28 59 181 349 75 459 i, 7ii 2,887 4,559 334 i,026 7,921 9,571 18,441 *1915-1920. *1921. «Not including Wisconsin and agriculture and public service. 18 33 54 1,755 420 95 5,996 397 598 5,354 9,390 12,443 2,818 54,337 26,881 9,477 42,465 i. 88 2.49 .56 10.54 5.38 1.90 7.93 2.07 3.46 .83 7.05 2.27 1.11 2.31 3.45 17,245 129,659 25.20 77,372 15.50 36,360 7.28 .46 2,272 9,216 .95 5,794 5,944 1.19 59,631 8,516 3.16 15,754 42 68,803 12.19 819 599,731 100.00 2.23 38.19 29.94 1.13 .65 4 74 20 13 13 8 467 6 1 153 3 15 1.46 1.64 5.64 100.00 26 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. CAUSE OF INJURY. Eighteen States recorded their accidents according to a cause classification. This information for 1920 is embodied in Table 28. The total number of accidents so classified is 714,023. That this total is larger than that in Table 27 is due to the fact that Ohio is included, this State having published a classification by causes of 182,970 accidents. As in all such classifications, “ handling tools or objects” has in nearly every State the largest number of accidents, with “ machin ery” very generally coming next. It should be noted that in this table hoisting apparatus, which is sometimes not included with machines, is so included. Failure to recognize that hoisting apparatus is a form of machine has contributed to an inadequate estimate of the importance of machines in accident causation. The per cent of the total accidents attributed to the various causes is as follows: Machinery, 21.25 per cent; hot substances, electricity, etc., 5.54 per cent; falling objects, 10.48 per cent; falls of person, 10.41 per cent; handling, 32.62 per cent; vehicles, 6.71 per cent; unclassified, 12.94 per cent. Table 38.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN THE SPECIFIED STATES, 1920, BY CAUSE OF INJURY. Accidents due to specified cause. Han Hot Falling Falls of dling Vehi Unclas Machin sub ery. stances. objects. person. tools or cles. sified. Total. objects. State. California................................................. 8,410 495 Idaho i................................................... Illinois a.................................................... 7,240 Indiana.................................................... 1,101 Kentucky .......................................... 1,232 Maryland 1.............................................. 1,036 Massachusetts......................................... 15,307 Minnesota1.............................................. 2,475 New Jersey 8........................................... 2,986 North Dakota......................................... 173 Ohio.......................................................... 79,043 Oregon...................................................... 2,979 Pennsylvania......................................... 21,935 Tennessee................................................. 675 Vermont................................................... 971 Washington8.......................................... 1,615 Wisconsin................................................ 3,986 Wyoming................................................. 91 Total.............................................. 151,750 4,283 5,688 9,465 24,445 6,867 11,247 70,405 116 1,471 752 1,313 222 588 4,957 2,928 8,204 5,799 12,276 4,683 9,455 50,585 1,856 6,187 5,384 9,304 1,772 8,792 34,396 842 3,820 625 5,733 3,903 16,155 395 1,150 1,087 1,284 588 1,154 6,694 3,029 2,412 9,176 23,931 4,149 7,484 65,488 603 1,088 1,769 4,282 1,351 1,170 12,738 1,014 6,446 2,424 7y652 2,905 4,609 28,036 74 114 148 498 147 177 1,331 12,442 6,404 8,417 58,551 4,391 13,722 182,970 431 1,335 1,888 4,755 769 1,232 13,389 8,721 22,378 20,187 65,398 18,369 17,991 174,979 465 6,195 17,189 1,302 2,877 3,009 2,666 26 1,544 8,080 200 2,057 669 2,613 558 843 9,571 278 1,865 1,588 2,824 986 1,063 1,826 5,245 577 2,565 16,248 74 95 156 70 812 53 273 39,553 74,832 74,308 232,926 47,913 92,741 714,023 1 Compensation claims allowed. * Compensable cases only. * Data for year ending June 30,1921. NATURE OF INJURY. Twelve States have published accidents classified by the nature of injury. The facts are assembled in Table 29. The accidents in the two groups, “ Bruises” and “ Cuts, lacerations, and punctures,” are more numerous than all others combined. That nearly half the cases of burns are in Pennsylvania is due tq the predominance in that State of the basic processes of the iron and steel industry. The number of cases of asphyxiations is related to the same condition. STATE ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR 1920. 27 Table 2 9 .—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN SPECIFIED STATES, 1920, BY NATURE OF INJURY. Accidents, classified by nature of injury. State. California.................................. Idaho 1...................................... Illinois 3.................................... Indiana..................................... Kentucky 1............................... Maryland 1............................... Massachusetts.......................... Minnesota................................. Montana................................... Pennsylvania........................... Tennessee................................. Wyoming................................. Total............................... Cuts, Sprains lacera Ampu As- Burns, tions, Frac and Unclas Total. ta phyxi- etc. Bruises. and tures. disloca sified. tions. ations. tions. punc tures. 1,285 24 2,156 622 256 393 1,538 313 1,566 185 8,338 1 Claims allowed. 2Compensable cases. 3,145 139 3,043 1,891 477 535 3,147 625 26 122 287 11,569 1,233 80 313 26,006 17,987 1,280 12,344 8,765 2,153 1,309 16,907 3,773 1,560 71,128 4,076 *412 141,694 20,232 7,641 12,549 7,566 70,405 2,144 657 624 261 5,129 16,287 5,877 7,204 3,674 50,585 6,351 2,790 3,980 9,997 34,396 3,275 1,191 1,194 1,044 9,590 1,075 876 655 1,851 6,694 21,819 4,357 11,305 6,415 65,488 3,446 2,288 1,822 445 12,738 1,586 465 429 752 4,914 51,906 14,816 20,682 3,025 174,979 5,837 903 1,440 3,515 17,189 184 84 52 812 (9 133,958 42,045 61,968 38,597 452,919 3 Including cuts, lacerations, and punctures. 4Included under 1‘Bruises. ” LOCATION OF INJURY. In Table 30 is shown information from 11 States regarding the bodily part which suffered injury. Neither nature nor location-of injury is of great significance m accident prevention. The only item of serious importance is the number of eye injuries. This serves to emphasize still further what has been already said, that these accidents would almost disappear if the standard rules and specifica tions regarding protection of head and eyes should be vigorously applied. T able 3 0.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IN SPECIFIED STATES, 1920, BY LOCATION OF INJURY. Accidents, classified by location of injury. State. California........................................ Idaho 1............................................ Illinois *.......................................... Indiana3........................................ Kentucky...................................... Maryland 1.................................... Massachusetts............................... Minnesota...................................... Oklahoma...................................... Pennsylvania................................ Wyoming1.................................... Total................................... 1 Compensable cases. Head, face, and neck. 4,023 423 3,067 2,390 2,173 394 3,645 527 2,008 15,354 102 34,106 Eyes. 5,204 393 2,439 2,813 240 3,446 434 3,084 11,597 13 29,663 ex Lower ex Unclassi Total. Trunk. Upper tremities. tremities. fied. 9,937 725 7,401 4,103 2,949 557 8,570 2,487 2,747 30,235 102 69,813 29,469 1,970 22,752 13,498 7,113 2,603 31,667 5,681 9,071 64,862 254 188,940 1 Compensation claims allowed. 19,741 1,545 14,926 9,783 4,352 2,070 17,091 3,551 5,202 52,931 307 131,499 2,031 80 1,809 830 1,069 58 602 34 6,513 31921. 70,405 5,136 50,585 34,396 16,587 6,694 65,488 12,738 22,714 174,979 812 460,534 28 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS, STEAM RAILWAYS. The Interstate Commerce Commission publishes quarterly an accident bulletin containing very detailed, information regarding accidents in connection with the operation of American steam rail roads ; that for the fourth quarter contains a summary for the year. The data for accidents on steam railways herein set forth have been taken from these reports. Table 31 presents the number killed and injured in railway operation from 1888 to 1921. No other American industrial group has been recorded with equal completeness for so long a time. The most significant column is that of employees killed. While the number is irregular, it shows a distinct tendency to decline, which would be conspicuous if it were possible to relate these occurrences to the greatly expanding volume of employment during these years. The very great increase in injuries until about 1916 in part is due to the expansion of railway operations and in part reflects a more complete recording than was possible in earlier years. The number of “ other persons” killed shown in the table bears startling testimony to the steady increase of hazard to the general public from the grade crossing. A very large part of these casualties are due to the growth of automobile traffic. With thousands of motor cars constantly crossing the tracks of the steam railways casualties could not out increase unless more drastic measures are taken than has yet been thought possible. TAifcE 31.—NUMBER OF PASSENGERS, EMPLOYEES, AND OTHER PERSONS KILLED OR INJURED IN REPORTABLE STEAM RAILWAY ACCIDENTS OF ALL KINDS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1888 TO 1921.1 Employees. Other persons. Passengers. Total. Killed. Injured. Killed. Injured. Killed. Injured. Killed. Injured. June 30, 1888..................................... 315 2,138 2,070 20,148 2,897 3,602 5,282 25,888 June 30, 1889..................................... 310 2,146 1,972 20, 028 3,541 4,135 6,823 26,309 June 30, 1890..................................... 286 2,425 2,451 22,396 3,598 4,206 6,335 29,027 June 30, 1891..................................... 293 2,972 2,660 26,140 4,076 4,769 7,029 33,881 June 30, 1892..................................... 276 3,227 2,554 28,267 4,217 5,158 7,147 36,652 299 3,229 2,727 31,729 4,320 5,435 7,346 40,393 June 30, 1893.................................... 324 3,034 1,823 23,422 4,300 5,433 6,447 31,889 June 30, 1894.................................... June 30, 1895..................................... 170 2,375 1,811 25,696 4,155 5,677 6,136 33,748 181 2,873 1, 861 29,969 4,406 5,845 6,448 38,687 June 30, 1896.................................... June 30, 1897..................................... 222 2,795 1,693 27,667 4,522 6,269 6,437 36,731 June 30, 1898..................................... 221 2,945 1,958 31,761 4,680 6,176 6,859 40,882 239 3,442 2,210 34,923 4,674 6,255 7,123 44,620 June 30, 1899.................................... 249 4,128 2,550 39,643 5,066 6,549 7,865 50,320 June 30,1900.................................... 282 4,988 2,675 41,142 5,498 7,209 8,455 53,339 June 30, 1901.................................... 345 6,683 2,969 50,524 5,274 7,455 8,588 64,662 June 30, 1902.................................... 355 8,231 3,606 60,481 5,879 7,841 9,840 76,553 June 30, 1903.................................... 441 9,111 3,632 67,067 5,973 7,977 10,046 81,155 June 30, 1904.................................... 537 10,457 3,361 66,833 5,805 8,718 9,703 86,008 June 30, 1905.................................... June 30, 1906.................................... 359 10,764 3,929 76,701 6,330 10,241 10,618 97,706 June 30, 1907..................................... 610 13,041 4,534 87,644 6,695 10,331 11, 839 111, 016 June 30, 1908..................................... 381 11,556 3,405 82,487 6,402 10,187 10,188 104,230 June 30, 1909..................................... 253 10,311 2,610 75,006 5,859 10,309 8,722 95,626 June 30,1910..................................... 324 12,451 3,382 95,671 5,976 11,385 9, 682 119,507 June 30, 1911..................................... 299 12,042 3,602 126,039 6,495 12,078 10,396 150,159 June 30,1912..................................... 283 14,938 3,635 142,442 6,667 12,158 10, 585 169,538 June 30,1913..................................... 350 15,130 3,715 171,417 6,899 13,761 10,964 200,308 June 30,1914..................................... 232 13,887 3,259 165,212 6,811 13,563 10,302 192,662 June 30,1915..................................... 199 10,914 2,152 138,092 6,270 13,034 8,621 162,040 June 30,1916..................................... 239 7,488 2,687 160,663 6,438 12,224 9,364 180,375 Dec. 31, 1916..................................... 246 7,152 2,941 176, 923 6,814 12^647 10,001 196,722 Dec. 31, 1917..................................... 301 7,582 3,199 174,247 6,587 12,976 10, 087 194,805 Dec. 31, 1918..................................... 471 7,316 3, 419 156, 013 5,398 11,246 9,286 174,575 Dec. 31, 1919..................................... 273 7,456 2,138 131, 018 4,567 10,579 6,978 149,053 Dec. 31, 1920..................................... 229 7,591 2,578 149, 414 4,151 11, 304 6,958 168,309 Dec. 31,1921..................................... 205 5,584 1,446 104, 530 4, 345 10, 571 5,996 120, 685 1 Figures for years 1911 to 1915 include industrial and other nontrain accidents to employees only; and for years 1908 to 1910 do not cover switching and terminal roads; otherwise, the statement covers all reportable accidents. Year ending— 29 STEAM RAILWAYS. In Table 32 are shown for the years 1917 to 1921 the casualties to the various classes of persons injured, the most significant figures being those for trainmen. Table 32.—ACCIDENTS ON STEAM RAILWAYS OF ALL CLASSES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1917 TO 1921, BY CLASSES OF PERSONS INJURED. 1917 Class. * 1918 1919 1920 1921 In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. jured. jured. jured. jured. jured. Train and train service accidents. TRESPASSERS. 74 207 98 133 193 89 Employees............................. 149 Other persons........................ 4,094 3,622 3,181 2,707 2,420 2,465 2,077 Total trespassers........ 4,243 3,829 3,255 2,805 2,553 2,658 2,166 189 72 123 2,179 2,409 2,948 2,368 2,481 3,071 NONTRESPASSERS. Employees on duty: Trainmen........................ Other employees........... Employees not on duty___ Passengers............................. Persons carried under con tract..................................... Other nontrespassers........... Total nontrespassers. Grand total................. 1,492 47,887 1,606 42,944 984 1,124 4,349 1,153 4,017 709 595 66 165 544 169 301 7,582 471 7,316 273 28 766 48 792 42 2,200 5,987 1,995 5,701 1,882 5,324 67,141 5,442 61,339 3,942 9,567 70,970 8,697 64,144 6,495 32,844 3,436 321 7,456 691 5,195 49,943 52,601 1,265 42,840 658- 25,968 842 4,080 438 2,556 91 314 41 223 229 7,591 205 5,584 35 865 21 560 1,867 5,728 1,743 5,362 4,329 61,418 3,106 40,253 6,495 63,786 5,587 43,324 Nontrain accidents. Employees not concerned with operation of trains.. Other persons........................ Total............................. 418 121,467 102 2,308 520 123,835 491 108,457 98 1,974 589 110,431 379 94,417 104 2,035 483 96,452 380 102,180 83 2,343 463 104,523 TRAINMEN. 309 75,783 100 1,578 409 77,361 Table 33 gives the average number of employees classed as train men on Class I railroads4 in the years 1917 to 1921, the number of accidents which occurred to employees in each class, and accident frequency rates per 1,000 employees. It will be noticed that the whole group of trainmen have a declin ing fatality rate. The rate drops from 4.48 in 1917 to 1.79 in 1921, or 60 per cent. The decline in the frequency rate for injuries is also notable but not so significant. In three of the five years yard brakemen have the highest fatality rate (8.28, 6.67, and 3.79); m the other years road freight brakemen are higher (7.63 and 5.00). The highest rates found elsewhere are 9.9 for erectors of structural steel in 1920 and 6.9 for logging operations in Oregon in the same year. It is evi dent that the brakemen have been subject to a hazard nearly as serious as that of the most dangerous occupations. In frequency of nonfatal injury the yard brakemen exceed all other trainmen in each of the five years. The lowest casualty rates are for passenger conductors. 4Class I roads are those roads whose annual operating revenues are above $1,000,000. 39554°— 23— Bull. 339----- 3 30 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS, T able 33.—AVERAGE NUMBER OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES CLASSED AS TRAINMEN ON CLASS I ROADS IN THE UNITED STATES, NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY RATES PER 1,000 EMPLOYED, 1917 TO 1921 BY OCCUPATIONS OccupatiQn. Average number of trainmen. 1917 1918 3,719 2,507 18,933 19,156 18,703 48,451 4,848 3,984 34,155 36,828 27,152 67,818 13,297 13,105 10,655 5,524 14,854 343,689 Yardmasters.................. Yardmaster’s assistants. Yard engineers and motormen. Yard firemen and helpers-----Yard conductors (or foremen). Yard brakemen (switchmen or helpers).............................. Yard switch tenders................. Other yard employees.............. Road freight engineers and motormen............................... Road freight firemen and helpers.................................... . Roacf freight conductors.......... Road freight brakemen and flagmen.................................. . Road passenger engineers and motormen................................ Road passenger firemen and Road passenger conductors— Road passenger baggagemen.. Road passenger brakemen and flagmen........................... Total.. 1919 4,036 3,217 21,310 21,979 20,823 53,790 5,119 4,277 34,990 38,102 27,679 69,048 12,709 12,419 10,444 5,371 14,423 359,736 1920 3,931 3,274 19,625 20,031 19,325 49,303 5,985 4,750 30,907 32,938 25,181 61,989 12,442 12,112 10,382 5,442 14,904 332,521 1921 4,371 3,697 22,924 23,191 21,940 54,383 6,366 5,014 33,895 36,169 27,590 68,140 13,100 12,691 10,911 5,744 15,976 366,102 3,660 2,784 17,895 18,334 17,675 44,642 5,778 4,199 28,330 30,332 22,600 56,625 12,926 12,770 10,548 5,753 15,317 310,168 Number of accidents. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. jured. jured. jured. jured. jured. 3 Yardmasters.................. . 5 Yardmaster’s assistants. 16 Yard engineers and motormen. 23 Yard firemen and helpers----78 Yard conductors (or foremen) Yard brakemen (switchmen 401 or helpers)............................. 16 Yard switch tenders................ 15 Other yard employees............. Road freight engineers and 72 motormen.............................. Road freight firemen and 122 helpers.................................... 88 Road freight conductors......... Road freight brakemen and 478 flagmen.................................. Road passenger engineers and 56 motormen............................... Road passenger firemen and 49 helpers.................................... 5 Road passenger conductors... ; 8 Road passenger baggagemen.. Road passenger brakemen and 18 flagmen........................ 1,453 Total.. 71 10 64 4 1,032 11 1,905 27 1,815 73 12,004 397 193 17 76 6 84 2,578 6,232 132 3,099 104 13,094 527 738 59 1,444 50 327 11 368 5 699 25 45,739 1,542 78 50 908 1,708 1,440 10,472 180 52 2,547 5,706 2,832 11,938 777 1,253 304 283 674 41,202 6 15 14 50 235 14 6 66 70 63 310 50 51 6 4 17 977 70 5 42 4 680 9 1,171 18 1,249 67 8,296 363 14 133 53 15 1,888 63 84 3,945 62 2,253 8,829 396 69 660 1,176 52 263 6 4 292 579 16 31,579 1,247 120 68 1,023 1,691 1,607 11,666 187 56 2,130 5,085 2,693 11,439 804 1,535 274 344 688 41,410 5 1 n 7 39 169 6 9 32 36 48 186 37 36 9 2 10 643 91 24 546 854 1,094 6,711 148 33 1,404 2,791 1,921 7,012 602 997 209 269 570 25,276 31 STEAM RAILWAYS, Table 33.—AVERAGE NUMBER OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES CLASSED AS TRAINMEN ON CLASS I ROADS IN THE UNITED STATES, NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY RATES PER 1,000 EMPLOYED, 1917 TO 1921, BY OCCUPATIONS— Concluded. Accident frequency rates (per 1,000 employees). Occupation. 1917. 1918 1919. 1920. 1921. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. jured. jured. jured. jured. jured. Yardmasters............................... Yardmasters’ assistants........... Yard engineers and motormen. Yard firemen and helpers........ Yard conductors (or foremen). Yard brakemen (switchmen or helpers).................................... Yard switch tenders.................. Other yard employees............... Road freight engineers and motormen................................ Road freight firemen and helpers...................................... Road freight conductors.......... Road freight brakemen and flagmen.................................... Road passenger engineers and motormen................................ Road passenger firemen and helpers...................................... Road passenger conductors__ Road passenger baggagemen.. Road passenger brakemen and flagmen............................. Total.................................. 0.81 1.99 .85 1.18 4.17 8.28 3.30 3.77 2.11 3.31 3.24 7.05 4.21 3. 74 .47 1.45 1.21 4.23 19.09 25.53 54.51 97.61 97.04 247.76 39. 81 19.08 75.48 169. 22 114.14 193.08 55.50 110.19 30.69 66. 62 47.06 119. 76 2.48 1.24 .52 1.23 3.51 7.38 3.32 1.40 2.40 3.46 3. 76 7.63 4.64 4.03 1.05 .93 1.73 4.29 19.33 15.54 42.61 77.71 69.15 194.68 35.16 12.16 72. 79 149. 76 102.32 172.89 61.14 100.89 29.11 52.69 46. 73 114.53 1.83 .76 .70 2.59 4.77 2.34 1.26 2.14 2.13 2.50 5.00 4.02 4. 21 .58 .74 1.14 3.75 17.81 12.83 34.65 58.46 64.63 168. 27 22.22 11.16 61.09 119.77 89.47 142.43 53.05 97. 09 25. 33 53.65 38.85 124.53 1.14 1.08 .39 .78 3.05 6.67 2.20 2.99 1.86 2.32 2.25 5. 81 5. 27 4.10 .55 .70 1.00 1. 76 27.45 18.39 44.63 72.92 73.25 214.52 29.37 11.17 62. 84 140.59 97. 61 167. 88 61.38 120.95 25.11 59.89 43.06 09. 04 1.37 .36 .61 .38 2.21 3. 79 1.04 2.14 1.13 1.87 2.12 3.29 2. 86 2. 82 .85 .35 .65 1. 79 24.86 8.62 30.51 46.58 61.90 150.33 25.62 7.86 49.56 92.02 85.00 123.83 46.57 78.07 19.81 46.76 37.21 70.18 NONTRAIN EMPLOYEES. Table 34 contains the number of accidents to nontrain employees of Class I railroads for the years 1917 to 1921, classified by causes. The table also gives frequency rates for each cause, based on the following exposure for industrial employees: 1917, 3,727,490,000 hours; 1918, 3,925,030,000 hours; 1919, 3,521,480,000 hours; 19 0, 3,763,970,000 hours; 1921, 2,808,498,000 hours. The fatality rate for this group of employees, who are mostly shopmen, does not change materially, but there is something of a drop in the nonfatal-accident rates. Throughout the years covered by this table the most serious cause of fatality is “ falls of person.” Next to this in nearly every year comes “ handling tools or objects/7 and with a rather surprisingly high frequency. TABLE 34.—NUMBER OF NONTRAIN ACCIDENTS ON CLASS I RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES AND FREQUENCY RATES (PER 1,000,000 HOURS' EXPOSURE) 1917 to 1921. NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS. 1917 1918 1919 1920 CO fcO 1921 Accident cause. Killed. Injured. Total. Killed. Injured. Total. Killed. Injured. Total. Killed. Injured. Total. Killed. Injured. Total. 15 4,741 530 5 38 44,855 7,423 2,949 185 24 42 14,087 98 13,892 119 27,570 363 116,232 13 978 376 117,210 211 4,756 535 44,893 7,424 2,970 209 14,129 13,990 27,689 116,595 991 117,586 38 7 42 4 25 56 131 435 18 453 21 111 4,835 585 37,196 6,897 2,857 245 13,132 12,474 25,642 103,863 1,037 104,900 4,873 592 37,238 6,901 2,878 270 13,188 12,585 25,773 104,298 1,055 105,353 3,885 460 6 33,340 5,536 2,356 223 22 10,536 17 52 16 42 89 97 341 18 359 9,871 23,867 90,074 768 90,842 3,902 466 33,392 5,536 2,372 245 10,578 9,960 23,964 90,415 786 91,201 ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES (PER 1,000,000 HOURS’ EXPOSURE). 223 4,087 4,109 489 492 39 35,489 35,528 1 5,744 5,745 13 2,648 2,661 9 221 230 44 11,822 11,866 76 10,906 10,982 131 26,250 26,381 338 97,656 97,994 23 637 660 361 98,293 98,654 13 2,919 7 343 25 25,858 4,227 13 1,875 16 124 27 8,341 59 7,725 92 20,037 254 71,449 2,932 350 25,883 4,229 140 8,368 7,784 20,129 71,703 254 71,449 71,703 2 1,888 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS, Working machinery, engines, motors, etc..................... Transmission apparatus............................................. Handling tools and objects.......................................... Flying jparticles......................................................... Explosives and inflammable, hot, or corrosive substances. Electric currents........................................................ Collapse, fall, etc., of objects....................................... Falls of persons......................................................... Miscellaneous industrial causes.................................... Total industrial accidents................................... Other nontrain accidents............................................ Total nontrain accidents.................................... 33 STEAM RAILWAYS. In Table 35 the number of fatal and nonfatal accidents among the nontrain employees are shown by occupation groups, such as shop men, stationmen, trackmen, etc., and in Table 36 are presented acci dent frequency rates for such employees. Among these groups the shopmen show constantly the highest frequency, but the bridge and building men have a much higher severity. T able 35.—NUMBER OF NONTRAIN ACCIDENTS ON CLASS I RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1917 TO 1921, BY OCCUPATIONS AND CAUSES. 1917 Accident cause. 1918 1919 1920 1921 In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. jured. jured. jured. jured. jured. Shopmen. Working machinery, engines, motors, etc............................... Transmission apparatus........... Handling tools and objects---Flying particles......................... Explosives and inflammable, hot, or corrosive substances. Electric currents........................ Collapse, fall, etc., of objects... Falls of persons.......................... Miscellaneous industrial causes Total industrial accidents. Other nontrain accidents......... Total nontrain accidents.. 7 4 10 1 10 7 11 27 41 118 1 119 4,148 406 18,335 5,928 2,521 103 10,339 7,089 18,458 67,327 225 67,552 26 4 11 2 12 10 23 26 64 178 4 182 4,303 476 17,022 5,576 2,460 168 9,613 6,658 17,497 63,773 262 64,035 12 3,394 5 373 13 13,557 4,319 11 2,035 10 158 15 7,755 27 5,283 28 15,323 121 52,197 192 121 52,389 17 3 13 1 6 4 21 22 43 130 3 133 3,541 402 14,440 4,514 2,367 139 8,909 6,075 16,880 57,267 198 57,465 8 6 4 1 8 9 13 15 17 81 2,522 266 10,103 3,171 1,651 79 6,400 4,601 12,874 41,667 Station men. Working machinery, engines, motors, etc.............................. Transmission apparatus........... Handling tools and objects___ Flying particles......................... Explosives and inflammable, hot, or corrosive substances. Electric currents........................ Collapse, fall, etc., of objects... Falls of persons.......................... Miscellaneous industrial causes Total industrial accidents... Other nontrain accidents......... Total nontrain accidents___ 1 32 8 11 10,431 56 1 66 3 1 1,538 1 1,561 7 1,918 22 15,613 1 39 23 15,652 35 9 8 7,779 72 55 2 13 1 1,321 9 1,298 4 1,544 24 12,126 63 24 12,189 19 11 10 7,584 44 47 1 3 865 3 1,030 2 1,587 18 11,188 29 18 11,217 1 31 11 8 7,907 50 54 1 1 9 1,015 2 992 6 1,576 19 11,645 1 25 20 11,670 2 3 5 4 14 22 9 4,520 34 37 4 548 669 1,087 6,930 Trackmen. Working machinery, engines, motors, etc............................... Transmission apparatus........... Handling tools and objects___ Flying particles......................... Explosives and inflammable, hot, or corrosive substances. Electric currents........................ Collapse, fall, etc., of objects... Falls of persons.......................... Miscellaneous industrial causes Total industrial accidents... Other nontrain accidents......... Total nontrain accidents___ 271 37 7 12,226 1,094 4 118 5 18 8 939 26 2,447 31 3,805 81 20,955 6 144 87 21,099 7 1 14 2 2 2 8 27 39 102 6 108 258 40 9,497 932 117 9 949 2,139 3,455 17,396 214 17,610 2 255 1 35 10 9,635 886 87 3 2 16 6 830 17 1,661 30 3,774 71 17,179 7 215 78 17,394 1 262 35 9 10,419 922 75 3 2 26 7 916 28 1,934 51 4,423 101 19,012 9 133 no 19,145 206 24 12 9,022 1 863 77 1 17 5 676 21 1,194 34 3,625 74 15,704 34 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. T able 35.—NUMBER OF NONTRAIN ACCIDENTS ON CLASS L RAILROADS TN THE UNITED STATES, 1917 TO 1921, BY OCCUPATIONS AND CAUSES—Continue ! 1917 Accident cause. 1918 1919 1920 1921 In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. In Killed. jured. jured. jured. jured. jured. Bridge and building men. Working machinery, engines, motors, etc............................... Transmission apparatus........... Handling tools and objects — Flying particles......................... Explosives and inflammable, hot, or corrosive substances. Electric currents........................ Collapse, fall, etc., of objects... Falls of persons.......................... Miscellaneous industrial causes Total industrial accidents... Other nontrain accidents......... Total nontrain accidents----- 1 100 23 5 2,167 161 54 2 2 8 16 522 26 1,027 8 982 60 5,044 24 60 5,068 69 1 30 6 1,629 138 31 42 6 13 530 21 885 6 820 51 4,149 2 43 53 4,192 1 75 22 7 1,432 116 559 3 10 443 17 719 17 909 55 3,780 21 55 3,801 92 19 5 1,535 127 43 a 10 425 15 863 7 1,020 37 4,130 3 28 40 4,158 1 5 2 7 12 15 42 78 24 1,327 96 274 361 585 854 3,356 Other employees. Working machinery, engines, motors, etc............................... Transmission apparatus........... Handling tools and objects — Flying particles......................... Explosives and inflammable, hot, or corrosive substances. Electric currents........................ Collapse, fall, etc., of objects... Falls of persons.......................... Miscellaneous industrial causes Total industrial accidents... Other nontrain accidents......... Total nontrain accidents___ 6 190 1 56 5 1,696 184 4 190 10 53 6 749 18 1,768 32 2,407 82 7,293 6 546 87 7,839 5j 170 30 3 1,269 179 2 183 12 49 11 719 28 1,494 18 2,326 80 6,419 6 455 86 6,874 2 142 19 12 1,132 171 2 132 7 39 8 643 25 1,178 20 2,274 76 5,730 11 311 87 6,041 3 161 22 4 1,188 131 3 109 2 41 6 557 9 1,042 24 2,351 51 5,602 7 253 58 5,855 5 2 91 20 886 63 2 83 4 20 2 356 6 676 22 1,597 43 3,792 Total employees. Working machinery, engines, motors, etc............................... Transmission apparatus........... Handling tools and objects___ Flying particles......................... Explosives and inflammable, hot, or corrosive substances. Electric currents........................ Collapse, fall, etc., of objects... Falls of persons.......................... Miscellaneous industrial causes Total industrial accidents... Other nontrain accidents......... Total nontrain accidents___ 15 5 38 1 21 24 42 98 119 363 13 376 4,741 530 44,855 7,423 2,949 185 14,087 13,892 27,570 116,232 978 117,210 38 7 42 4 21 25 56 111 131 435 18 453 4,835 585 37,196 6,897 2,857 245 13.132 12.474 25,642 103,863 1,037 104,900 17 3,885 6 460 52 33,340 5,536 16 2,356 22 223 42 10,536 89 9,871 97 23,867 341 90,074 18 768 359 90,842 22 3 39 1 13 9 44 76 131 338 23 361 4,087 489 35,489 5,744 2,648 221 11,822 10,906 26,250 97,656 637 98,293 13 7 25 2 13 16 27 59 92 254 2,919 343 25,858 4,227 1,875 124 8,341 7,725 20,037 71,449 35 STEAM RAILWAYS, T able 3 6 .—NUMBER OF NONTRAIN ACCIDENTS, NUMBER OF HOURS’ EXPOSURE, AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES (PER 1,000,000 HOURS’ EXPOSURE) FOR INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYEES ON CLASS I RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1917 TO 1921 BY OCCU PATIONS. 1917 Occupation 1918 1919 1920 1921 Number of accidents. 67,445 15,635 21,036 5,104 7,375 116,595 Shopmen........................................................... Station men...................................................... Trackmen......................................................... Bridge and building men............................... Other employees.............................................. Total........................................................ 63,951 12,150 17,498 4,200 6,499 104,298 52,318 11,206 17,250 3,835 5,806 90,415 67,397 11,664 19,113 4,167 5,653 97,994 41,748 6,944 15,778 3,398 3,835 71,703 Hours of exposure (thousands) Shopmen........................................................... 1,400,734 689,174 Station men...................................................... Trackmen.......................................................... 1,019,263 Bridge and building men............................... 203,314 415,005 Other employees.............................................. Total........................................................ 3,727,490 1,582,114 690,048 1,031,366 202,575 418,927 3,925,030 1,456,460 620,370 888,206 165,072 391,372 3,521,480 1,584,884 644,202 955,570 168,550 410,764 3,763,970 1,150,383 511,918 678,478 117,742 349,977 2,808,498 Accident frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure). Shopmen........................................................... Station men...................................................... Trackmen.......................................................... Bridge and building men............................... Other employees.............................................. Total........................................................ 48.15 22.69 20.64 25.10 17.77 31. 28 40.42 17.61 16.97 20. 73 15.51 26. 57 35.92 18.06 19.42 23.23 14.83 25. 68 36. 22 18.11 20.00 24.72 13. 76 26.03 36.29 13.56 23.25 28.87 10,96 25.53 Table 37 shows the frequency rates per 1,000,000 hours' exposure for nontrain employes for the five-year period, 1917 to 1921. T able 3 7.—ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES (PER 1,000,000 HOURS’ EXPOSURE) FOR NONTRAIN EMPLOYEES ON CLASS I RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES. 1917 TO 1921. Occupation. Shopmen............................................................................................................................... Station men.......................................................................................................................... Trackmen.............................................................................................................................. Bridge men........................................................................................................................... GRADE-CROSSING ACCIDENTS. Fatalities. 0.09 .03 .10 .30 All acci dents. 39.54 18.30 20.00 24.29 Table 38 is introduced for the purpose of adding to the force of what has been said already regarding the hazards of grade crossings. The maximum number of deaths at such places is found in 1917. The number of injuries was slightly more in 1920 than in 1917. The increase of such accidents is known to be due to increased use of automobiles, together with increased traffic on the railways. While a perfect solution of the problem can scarcely come without doing away altogether with grade crossings great improvement may be expected with the installation of better systems of warning and the greater use of protective gates. For a long time, however, the main reliance for reduction of accidents must be on more careful driving. To this end the railways have instituted the “ cross crossings carefully" cam 36 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. paign, and another year ought to indicate whether this form of effort brings results. Table 38 also indicates that accidents due to trespass have declined quite materially in recent years. Whether this is due to special efforts on the part of the railways or is the result of a lessened number of trespassers it is impossible to determine. Table 38*—NUMBER OF PERSONS AND NUMBER OF TRESPASSERS KILLED OR INJURED IN RAILWAY ACCIDENTS AT HIGHWAY GRADE CROSSINGS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1890 TO 1921. Year ending— Number of per sons— Number of tres passers— Killed. Injured. Killed. Injured. June 30,1891......................................................................................... June 30, 1892........................................................................................ June 30, 1893.......................................................................................... June 30,1894.......................................................................................... June 30, 1895.......................................................................................... June 30, 1896.......................................................................................... June 30, 1897.......................................................................................... .Tune 30, 1898........................_............................................................... June 30, 1899.......................................................................................... June 30, 1900.......................................................................................... June 30,1901.......................................................................................... June 30, 1902.......................................................................................... June 30, 1903.........................'............................................................... June 30,1904.......................................................................................... June 30, 1905.......................................................................................... June 30, 1906.......................................................................................... June 30, 1907.......................................................................................... June 30, 1908.......................................................................................... June 30, 1909.......................................................................................... June 30,1910.......................................................................................... June 30, 1911.......................................................................................... June 30, 1912.......................................................................................... June 30, 1913.......................................................................................... June 30, 1914.......................................................................................... June 30, 1915.......................................................................................... June 30, 1916.......................................................................................... Dec. 31, 1916........................................................................................... Dec. 31, 1917........................................................................................... Dec. 31, 1918........................................................................................... Dec. 31, 1919........................................................................................... Dec. 31, 1920.......................................................................................... Dec. 31, 1921.......................................................................................... 402 564 568 596 571 508 615 575 657 674 730 831 827 898 808 838 929 934 837 735 839 992 1,032 1,125 1,147 1,086 1,396 1,652 1,969 1,852 1,784 1,791 1,705 675 863 942 1,064 817 961 1,058 1,033 1,123 1,087 1,297 1,354 1,335 1,481 1,463 1,574 1,892 1,817 1,762 1,833 1,939 2,434 2,506 3,080 2,935 2,981 3,267 3,859 4,764 4,683 4,616 5,077 4,868 98 167 137 163 119 133 171 116 151 170 171 209 265 271 197 215 250 237 216 112 129 148 136 145 122 83 86 121 131 137 107 100 106 151 162 176 179 136 176 248 197 202, 168 204 242 272 247 224 256 226 274 323 211 153 124 138 172 119 72 83 101 128 140 216 273 166 IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY. The Bureau of Labor Statistics was called upon in 1910 to make a special study of the iron and steel industry, and a section of the investigation then conducted was devoted to the subject of accidents. Since that time such information has been continuously assembled and the results have been published from time to time. For detailed discussion of the various phases of the accident problem as found in the iron and steel industry recourse must be had to the published bulletins,5 particularly Bulletin No. 298. Table 39 is arranged to show the number of accidents and accident frequency and severity rates for the industry and the several depart ments for two 5-year periods, 1910 to 1914 and 1915 to 1919, and the years 1920 and 1921. The 1921 figures for the several depart ments have not hitherto been published.• • Conditions of employment in the iron and steel industry of the United States, Vol. IV, Accidents and accident prevention (Doc. No. 110, 62d Cong., 1st sess.); U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bui. No. 216: Accidents and accident prevention in machine building; Bull. No. 234: The safety movement in the iron and steel industry; Bui. No. 256: Accidents and accident prevention in machine building; Bui. No. 298: Causes and prevention of accidents in the iron and steel industry. IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY. 37 Table 39.—ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENT RATES IN THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1910 TO 1921, BY DEPARTMENTS. 38 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS, T able 39.—ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENT RATES IN THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1910 TO 1921, BY DEPARTMENTS—Continued. Accident frequency rates Accident severity rate ; (per 1,000,000 hours’ ex (per 1,000 hours’ ex posure). posure). Number of cases. Equivanum Period or lent Per Tem Per Per Tem ber of year. ull-year ma po ma Tem ma po workers. Death. nent porary Total. Death. nent rary To Death. nent rary To dis dis tal. dis disabil dis dis tal. abil abil abil ity. abil abil ity. ity. ity. ity. ity. Plate mills. 1910-1914... 1915-1919... 1920............. 1921............. 27,711 35,073 11,928 4,580 19 105 3,129 25 89 4,016 9 23 1,147 318 3 • 7 3,253 4,130 1,179 328 0.3 .2 .3 .2 49.9 39.2 33.0 23.8 1.8 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.4 .6 .6 .3 0.7 .5 .4 .4 3.9 2.5 2.5 2.0 1.5 37.7 39.5 .8 30.7 31.6 1.0 20.0 21.0 1.8 .5 1.3 .5 .7 0.5 .4 .3 3.6 1.5 1.0 1.4 .7 1.2 .6 0.6 .4 .7 .5 0.6 .4 .8 .5 2.6 1.5 2.3 1.6 .5 0.7 .5 .5 .5 0.5 .3 .5 .4 2.2 1.8 2.1 1.4 1.6 .8 .6 .5 48.0 38.2 32.1 23.1 Rod mills 1915-1919... 15,218 3,729 1920 ..................... 1921 ..................... 2,099 14 1 70 9 6 1,721 344 126 1,805 354 132 0.3 .1 Sheet mills 1910-1914... 128,423 1915-1919... 104,335 1920............. 24,279 1921............. 15,845 88 37 14 5 308 19,262 19,658 172 10,034 10,243 59 2,979 3,052 38 1,702 1,745 0.2 .1 .2 .1 0.9 .5 .8 .8 50.0 32.1 40.1 35.8 51.1 32.7 41.0 36.7 39.2 21.4 31.9 19.1 40.5 22.4 33.1 20.0 Tube mills. 1910-1914... 1915-1919... 1920............. 1921.............. 73,338 75,108 22,666 14,622 36 38 13 4 249 178 71 35 8,623 4,825 2,166 840 8,908 5,041 2,250 879 0.2 .2 .2 .1 1.1 .8 1.0 .8 1.0 1.0 1.1 Miscellaneous rolling mills. 1910-1914... 104,829 1915-1919... 102,696 1920.............. 29,898 1921............. 12,068 82 360 21,501 21,943 253 218 12,644 12,915 19 81 3,713 3,813 4 36 1,479 1,519 0.3 .2 .2 .1 71.8 41.0 41.4 40.9 73.3 41.9 42.5 42.0 1.7 1.0 1.3 .7 1.1 .5 .8 .9 0.9 .6 .6 .7 3.7 2.1 2.7 2.3 78.3 54.3 52.7 50.9 79.9 55.2 54.2 52.2 1.7 1.5 1.6 .8 0.9 .5 1.1 .7 0.8 .6 .6 .6 3.4 2.6 3.3 2.1 57.6 59.0 1.2 57.6 59.0 .8 58.6 59.4 1.1 39.5 41.0 2.6 1.4 2.2 0.6 1.1 .8 0.7 .9 .7 .7 3.9 3.4 1.5 3.9 1.2 .7 .9 1.0 Fabricating shops. 1910-1914... 108,538 1915-1919... 80,985 1920.............. 17,216 1921.............. 12,908 98 425 25,506 26,029 59 163 13,195 131,417 14 68 2,721 2,803 5 45 1,971 2,021 0.3 .2 .2 .1 1.3 .7 1.3 1.2 Forge shops. 1910-1914... 1915-1919... 1920............. 1921............. 6,249 12,667 2,197 902 8 9 i 19 45 5 3 1,080 2,189 380 107 1,107 2,243 385 111 0.4 .2 .4 1.0 1.0 IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY. Table 39 39.—ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENT RATES IN THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1910 TO 1921, BY DEPARTMENTS—Continued. Accident frequency rates Accident severity rates (per 1,000hours’ ex (per 1,000,000hours’ ex posure). posure). *Number of cases. Equivanum Period or lent Per Tem Per Tem ber of Per year. ma po ma po ma Tem full-year workers. Death. nent porary Total. Death. nent rary To Death. nent rary To dis dis tal. dis dis tal. dis disabil abil abil abil abil abil ity. ity. ity. ity. ity. ity. Wire drawing. 1910-1914... 1915-1919... 1920.......... 1921.......... 59,481 52,666 13,243 9,186 21 12 2 4 383 11,504 11,908 321 6,912 7,245 63 1,252 1,317 567 527 36 0.1 .1 .1 .1 0.7 .5 .3 .9 1.9 1.6 1.7 1.4 0.6 .5 .5 .4 3.2 2.6 2.5 2.7 47.1 40.3 30.6 21.2 4.6 5.7 2.2 1.3 1.2 1.0 .1 .6 0.5 .5 .4 .3 6.3 7.2 2.7 2.2 62.7 41.3 37.2 23.6 2.1 2.0 1.5 1.7 1.1 1.0 .6 .5 0.8 .5 .5 .4 4.0 3.5 2.6 2.5 0.9 22.4 23.5 .5 18.6 19.8 .1 12.5 12.9 10.9 11.2 1.5 4.1 1.7 1.7 0.8 .6 0) 0.3 .3 .2 .2 2.6 5.0 1.9 1.9 1.5 1.6 .9 1.3 2.1 2.0 1.6 1.3 63.5 [es.7 43.7 '45.8 31.5 133.2 19.1 20.6 Electrical department. 1910-1914... 1915-1919... 1920.......... 1921.......... 14,921 16,023 4,473 3,025 33 46 5 2 48 40 3 3 1,957 1,851 403 188 2,038 1,937 411 193 0.8 1.0 .4 .2 1.1 .8 .2 .3 45.2 38.5 30.0 20.7 Mechanical department. 1910-1914... 1915-1919... 1920.......... 1921.......... 97,161 154,846 34,648 25,036 104 154 26 21 392 17,794 18,292 492 18,556 19,202 68 3,767 3,861 41 1,703 1,775 0.4 .3 .3 .3 1.3 1.1 .7 .5 61.0 39.9 36.2 22.7 Power houses. 1912-1914... 1915-1919... 1920.......... 1921.......... 8,083 13,219 4,591 2,344 6 27 4 2 21 21 1 544 739 172 77 571 787 177 79 0.2 .7 .3 .3 Yards. 1910-1914... 1915-1919... 1920.......... 1921.......... 55,932 53,890 12,087 5,840 112 106 10 6 243 258 33 22 8,112 5,685 922 422 8,467 6,049 965 450 0.7 .7 .3 .3 48.6 35.2 25.4 24.1 50.8 37.5 26.6 25.7 4.0 3.9 1.7 2.1 1.4 1.6 1.3 1.9 0.6 .6 .4 .5 6.0 6.1 3.4 4.4 41.4 24.1 10.0 10.5 43.1 25.4 10.6 10.8 4.1 4.6 1.4 .7 1.5 .5 .7 .3 0.6 .4 .3 .2 6.2 5.5 2.4 1.1 1.3 40.2 41.9 .4 49.9 50.4 30.8 31.0 .6 30.9 31.7 2.7 3.8 1.3 1.8 0.5 .3 0.7 .8 .5 .6 3.9 4.9 1.8 3.0 Coke ovens. * 1912-1914. *. 1915-1919... 1920.......... 1921.......... 13,282 28,901 8,620 5,768 27 66 6 2 39 44 11 4 1,651 2,095 518 182 1,717 2,205 535 188 0.7 .8 .2 .1 1.0 .5 .4 .2 Armor plates. 1911-1914... 1916-1919... 1920.......... 1921.......... 3,000 4,761 1,517 1,134 4 9 1 1 12 5 2 362 705 140 105 378 719 141 108 0.4 .6 .2 .3 .6 1Less than 0.05. 2These figures are for coke plants operated in connection with steel plants. For a more complete state ment see publications of Bureau of Mines. STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. 40 Table 39.—ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENT RATES IN THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1910 TO 1921, BY DEPARTMENTS—Concluded. Accident frequency rates Accident severity rates (per 1,000,000hours’ ex (per 1,000 hours’ ex posure). posure). Number of cases. Equiva num Period or lent ber of Per Per Tem Per Tem year. full-year ma Tem ma po ma po workers. Death. nent porary Total. Death. nent rary To Death. nent rary To dis dis tal. dis disabil dis dis tal. abil ity. abil abil abil abil ity. ity. ity. ity. ity. Axle works. 1912-1914.. 1915-1919.. 1920 ..... 1921 ..... 1,326 2,467 743 242 2 4 4 1 438 338 100 12 444 342 100 13 0.5 1.3 1.0 110.1 111.6 .5 45.7 46.2 44.8 44.8 16.5 17.9 3.0 2.1 1.2 1.6 .7 .7 .5 6.7 1.9 .7 8.7 2.5 0.9 2.4 . .5 .9 3.6 .5 1.3 1.0.6 4.7 3.9 1.5 4.9 4.6 8.7 5.3 2.8 4.1 2.9 0.8 8.2 .5 13.3 .1 8.3 .5 .5 121.7 107.2 121.7 103.0 24.1 18.1 19.7 17.5 5.5 2.6 3.7 1.1 1.8 1.6 2.5 1.7 31.4 22.3 25.9 20.2 31.2 33.4 14.6 16.4 24.1 1.0 0.3 1.6 2.9 .8 0.3 .2 .4 3.1 1.9 26.5 |28.5 1.1 23.1 <24.2 1.2 17.7 19.0 0.4 1.2 1.3 .8 .6 0.3 .1 .3 0.6 31.2 31.9 1 0.6 .3 37.9 38.5 | 1.6 0.5 .2 0.4 .5 1.5 2.3 1.7 4.0 0.5 0.7 1.2, .7 2.9 5.9 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.3 .9 .8 3.4 2.8 2.6 8.3 Car wheels. 1912-1914. 1915-1919. 1920 .... 1921 .... 2,367 5,904 1,215 552 3 7 1 15 18 4 2 609 1,313 170 92 627 1,338 174 97 0.4 .4 .6 2.1 85.8 74.1 46.7 56.7 1.0 1.0 1.2 88.3 75.5 47.7 58.6 .7 Docks and ore yards. 1911-1914. 1915-1919. 1920 .... 1921 .... 1,293 1,383 379 235 3 6 1 11 12 2 139 175 12 11 153 193 15 11 0.8 1.4 .9 2.8 35.8 39.4 2.9 42.2 46.5 1.8 10.6 13.3 15.6 15.6 Erection of structural steel. 1912-1914. 1915-1919. 1920 .... 1921 .... 2,157 4,979 637 573 26 45 6 5 24 35 12 4 738 1,522 204 168 4.0 3.0 3.3 2.9 788 1,602 222 177 3.7 2.3 6.6 2.3 114.0 101.9 111.8 97.8 Wire fence. 684 48 79 7,311 1915-1919.. 1,097 1920 ................ 1,095 1921 ................ 732 54 82 0.1 2.1 1.8 2.2 1.2 Nails. 1915-1919. 1920 .... 1921 .... 9,818 2,364 1,718 2 1 56 8 6 782 164 91 840 172 98 0.1 .2 2.0.9 2.1 Hot mills. 1920.. 1921., 6,660 3,728 2 3 12 3 624 424 638 430 0.1 .3 Cold rolling. 1920.. 1921.. 1,205 506 1 1 6 1 230 75 237 77 0.3 .7 1.7 63.9 65.9 .7 49.4 50.7 Unclassified. 1915-1919... 293,329 1920........... 104,741 1921........... 53,403 237 72 36 706 30,612 31,555 261 11,208 11,541 134 4,468 4,638 0.3 .2 .2 0.8 34.8 35.9 .8 35.7 36.7 .8 27.9 28.9 0.5 .5 .5 iron and steel industry . 41 The figures in Table 39 for the industry as a whole show as between the two 5-year periods a definite decline in accident rates. The two years which follow have lower rates than those for the average of the preceding five years and there was a slight decline from 1920 to 1921. The accident rates for blast furnaces are among the highest found in the industry, but as an offset some of the most definite reductions which can anywhere be found are recorded for this department. While the figures for total accident frequency in the Bessemer department make a very satisfactory series, the severity rates for the second 5-year period are higher than for the first five years and 1921 is higher than 1920. Open hearths are shown to have a marked decline in accident frequency, while the severity rates, though in less degree, have still definitely declined. The accident rates for foundries are somewhat disappointing as regards the progress of accident prevention. As compared with the basic metallurgical processes the foundries have a lower accident severity with a higher accident frequency. Heavy rolling mills show a steady and marked decline in accident frequency, but in severity the second 5-year period was slightly higher than the first. In 1920 and 1921, however, there was quite a drop. From the first 5-year period to 1921 severity declined 67 per cent. Plate mills exhibit one of the most uniform declines in both frequency and severity of accidents which is on record. Frequency had a decline of 54 per cent and severity of 50 per cent during the period covered. The accident rates for sheet mills were strikingly low at the beginning of the period and from that low point decline irregularly but definitely. Tube mills share with sheet mills the lowest accident rates, both frequency and severity, found in any of the departments of the iron and steel industry. A notable feature of their experience is the very striking decline in accident frequency which the table shows. This is related quite closely with the large use, in mills of this type, of a foreman’s bonus for accident reduction. The production of the structural elements of bridges and steel frame buildings is shown by the accident rates for fabricating shops to be a matter of considerable hazard. These accident rates have declined in considerable measure and quite regularly. In wire drawing a very notable decline is to be observed in accident frequency. Accident severity does not, however, follow the same course. The electrical department taken as a whole does not display as favorable a change in accident rates as the experience of particular plants shows to be possible. However, the rates for 1920 and 1921 were much lower than the two 5-year periods, and the maintenance of this condition will set a new record for another five years. The mechanical departments of steel plants are of rather greater hazard than ordinary machine shops. This is due in part to the fact that a good deal of their work is unusually heavy and difficult, including much urgent heavy repair work. The yard operations of all industrial plants present a difficult problem for the safety man. This is particularly true of the iron and steel industry on account of the nature and volume of materials which must be moved. That these difficulties have not all been overcome is evident on inspection of the accident rates for this department. The accident severity rates for the two 5-year periods f 42 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. are practically identical. The years 1920 and 1921 had lower rates but those for 1921 were the higher. Accident rates for the erection of structural steel, while covering a much smaller exposure than could be desired, are, however, highly suggestive. Thus far no industrial group has been discovered which has as high rates as those here recorded. The only approach to it is the record of logging and saw-mill operations. The accident severity rate in Oregon in 1920 for logging- (see Table 17) is 21.56 per 1,000 hours7 exposure and for logging railways 20.24. In the erection of structural steel the five years frofta 1910 to 1914 had an accident severity rate of 31.4, and the five years from 1915 to 1919 a rate of 22.3, while the 1920 rate was 25.9 and that for 1921 was 20.2. It is evident that improvement has been fairly regular. Table 40 gives a more precise idea of the trend o i events in specified departments, the accident rates being computed for 5-year intervals from that ending in 1911 to that ending in 1921. The decline in ac cident frequency from the first period to the last in the several departments was as follows: The industry, 43 per cent; blast furnaces, 52 per cent; Bessemer, 64 per cent; open hearths, 47 per cent; heavy rolling mills, 51 per cent; plate mills, 46 per cent; and sheet mills, 24 per cent. In accident severity the decline was as follows: The industry, 32 per cent; blast furnaces, 46 per cent; Bessemer, 29 per cent; open hearths, 23 per cent; heavy rolling mills, 25 per cent; plate mills, 50 per cent; and sheet mills, 45 per cent. Foundries is the only department to show an increase for both accident frequency (5 per cent) and severity (20 per cent). wTwo departments, plate mills and sheet mills, show a greater decline in accident severity than in frequency; the others have a greater decline in frequency. It should be noted that these percentages of decline do not give a complete idea regarding the relations of these departments. The rates as found in the tables must be compared, since they represent the actual conditions in any given interval. T able 40.—TREND OF ACCIDENT RATES IN SPECIFIED DEPARTMENTS OF THE IRON 5-year period. 1907 to 1911.................. 1908 to 1912.................. 1909 to 1913.................. 1910 to 1914.................. 1911 to 1915.................. 1912 to 1916.................. 1913 to 1917.................. 1914 to 1918.................. 1915 to 1919.................. 1916 to 1920.............. 1917 to 1921.................. 1907 to 1911.................. 1908 to 1912.................. 1909 to 1913.................. 1910 to 1914.................. 1911 to 1915.................. 1912 to 1916.................. 1913 to 1917.................. 1914 to 1918.................. 1915 to 1919.................. 1916 to 1920.................. 1917 to 1921.................. AND STEEL INDUSTRY, BY 5-YEAR PERIODS. Plate Blast Bessemer. Open Found Heavy Industry. furnaces. rolling mills. hearth. ries. mills. Accident frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure). 69.2 76.1 101.5 84.2 60.1 61.0 69.4 65.1 67.7 79.5 79.5 61.5 57.0 60.8 62.1 62.4 92.3 78.6 65.1 51.7 55.9 59.2 59.2 89.8 76.1 63.6 46.0 49.9 53.3 50.3 65.0 59.3 67.6 39.4 44.7 51.3 47.8 76.1 64.8 57.8 37.3 • 41.5 48.2 44.1 68.3 60.4 32.1 58.4 36.6 43.6 40.5 60.7 53.5 57.0 31.1 39.8 41.2 38.6 57.7 50.5 55.6 32.0 39.2 41.1 38.0 53.1 50.2 61.0 31.4 38.4 39.5 36.3 47.0 44.8 63.1 29. U 37.6 Accident severity rates (per 1,000 hours’ exposure). 5.0 10.6 7.6 7.5 2.7 4.4 5.1 4.3 8.8 7.4 3.1 6.6 4.2 4.1 4.4 8.3 6.7 6.8 3.5 4.0 3.8 4.1 7.0 6.4 6.6 3.6 3.8 3.8 3.6 6.2 5.3 5.8 3.3 3.4 3.1 3.7 5.8 6.1 5.5 3.1 3.5 2.8 3.7 5.6 7.1 5.1 3.3 3.6 2.6 3.5 5.4 7.3 5.8 3.2 3.4 2.6 3.6 5.8 7.0 6.2 3.1 3.9 2.5 3.5 5.7 6.3 6.3 3.2 3.5 2.6 3.4 5.7 5.4 5.8 3.2 3.3 2.5 Sheet mills. 44.1 47.9 49.1 51.0 48.1 47.4 41.3 35.8 32.7 33.7 33.4 3.1 2.8 3.0 2.6 2.2 2.3 2.1 1.8 1.6 1.8 1.7 43 IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY. A showing similar to that of Table 40 is presented in Table 41. In this table the facts are analyzed by mills producing certain products, and the rates are computed for the years ending in alternate months. The results shown are very remarkable, and there is no indication that the reductions in accident frequency rates may not go still further. The sheet mills show a practically continuous decline, while the other mills show an increase during the war period, with continued and accelerated decline afterwards. It is possible, indeed probable, that the low figures of 1921 are due in part to the depressed state of the industry, and it should occasion no surprise if the revival seen in 1922 should be accompanied by rising accident rates. T able 41.—ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES (PER 1.000,000 HOURS’ EXPOSURE) FOR MILLS MAKING SPECIFIED PRODUCTS, DECEMBER, 1913, TO DECEMBER, 1921, BY YEARSENDING WITH EACH ALTERNATE MONTH. Year ending with— August, 1914.......................... October, 1914......................... December, 1914...................... February, 1915....................... April, 1915.............................. June, 1915............................... August, 1915........................... October, 1915......................... December, 1915...................... February, 1916....................... April, 1916.............................. June, 1916............................... August, 1916........................... October, 1916......................... December, 1916...................... February, 1917....................... April, 1917.............................. June, 1917............................... August, 1917.......................... October, 1917......................... December, 1917...................... February, 1918....................... April, 1918.............................. June, 1918............................... August, 1918.......................... October, 1918......................... December, 1918...................... February, 1919....................... April, 1919.............................. June, 1919............................... August, 1919........................... October, 1919.......................... December, 1919...................... February, 1920................. April, 1920.............................. June, 1920............................... August, 1920........................... October, 1920......................... December, 1920...................... February, 1921....................... April, 1921.............................. June, 1921............................... August, 1921........................... October, 1921..................... December, 1921...................... Fabri cated prod ucts. Sheets. 100.3 92.2 88.2 75.5 66.7 61.6 59.0 55.1 53.3 51.2 50.9 51.8 53.5 53.3 52.7 54.5 54.7 53.4 52.1 53.1 54.3 53.3 52.7 52.5 51.3 48.7 46.9 45.7 42.6 40.0 38.2 37.3 35.8 33.6 32.3 33.3 32.8 33.1 33.7 35.3 35.6 35.1 35.3 35.8 34.5 32.4 32.0 30.8 28.4 61.6 58.9 56.6 53.7 49.4 47.2 47.2 46.6 44.7 41.8 39.0 38.0 37.3 37.0 37.1 36.5 36.1 35.2 34.0 33.6 32.3 32.3 34.9 34.2 33.9 33.1 32.7 31.3 27.5 26.5 25.9 26.1 25.6 24.4 24.7 25.1 25.8 25.4 24.9 25.0 24.1 23.6 22.7 22.0 21.5 20.2 20.3 19.1 17.5 Wire prod ucts. 59.3 54.7 53.1 51.0 48.9 46.8 46.2 45.4 43.2 44.3 46.2 51.4 52.4 52.8 52.9 52.2 51.1 48.9 48.2 46.4 45.0 42.6 39.5 36.0 32.5 30.7 27.6 24.6 22.1 19.9 18.8 17.4 16.2 15.4 14.2 13.1 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.2 12.4 12.6 12.0 10.8 9.9 9.3 8.4 7.9 7.5 Tubes. Miscellaneous steel products. Total. Group A. Group B. 27.2 24.0 21.2 19.1 16.0 13.9 12.5 11.1 9.3 8.7 9.6 10.5 10.8 11.3 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.2 12.4 12.1 11.6 11.5 10.7 10.4 10.2 10.0 10.0 9.9 9.9 9.6 9.1 9.2 9.1 8.7 8.5 8.7 9.1 9.1 9.0 9.2 9.2 9.1 8.9 8.3 7.6 7.3 7.0 6.5 6.1 70.9 69.3 67.3 62.8 57.8 53.5 50.7 45.4 42.3 42.7 45.0 48.5 51.9 57.5 61.2 62.7 66.0 67.6 67.6 66.5 64.6 62.2 57.9 54.2 51.3 48.6 46.7 45.2 44.0 42.6 42.0 41.8 41.5 40.7 39.2 38.7 39.7 39.3 38.7 38.0 37.0 37.0 35.3 33.3 30.4 27.6 24.2 19.8 15.8 41.3 38.5 35.5 33.3 31.4) 28.4 27.6 27.7 26.4 23.3 20.1 21.0 23.0 25.4 25.4 27.0 28.5 29.0 28.2 26.6 25.8 24.5 22.5 21.0 20.5 20.0 21.6 24.3 28.3 29.9 31.4 31.5 30.7 28.4 25.5 24.5 23.0 22.5 21.1 21.2 20.3 19.5 18.6 17.4 16.8 15.5 14.2 13.3 12.1 60.3 57.3 54.7 51.6 47.9 45.0 43.5 41.0 39.1 38.0 38.1 40.3 41.5 43.3 44.2 44.7 45.4 45.0 44.4 43.4 42.2 40.5 38.3 36.2 34.5 32.9 31.9 31.1 30.2 29.2 28.8 28.6 28.1 27.1 26.2 25.9 26.1 25.9 25.3 25.0 24.4 24.0 22.9 21.7 20.2 18.7 17.2 15.2 13.2 44 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. Table 42 contrasts the rates of the two 5-year periods for the main cause groups. The constancy with which the second 5-year period shows lower rates is very striking, and affords evidence that the forces making for lower rates have exercised their influence in a very pervasive manner. T able 42.—ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES FOR SPECIFIED DEPART MENTS IN THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY. 1910 TO 1914, AND 1915 TO 1919. BY CAUSES. Department. Hot Machinery. substances. Falling objects. Falls of worker. Handling tools and objects. Power vehicles. 1910- 1915- 1910- 1915- 1910- 1915- 1910- 1915- 1910- 1915- 1910- 19151914 1919 1914 1919 1914 1919 1914 1919 1914 1919 1914 1919 Frequency rates (per 10,000,000 hours' exposure). Blast furnaces........................ 39.3 Open hearths........................ 78.3 Bessemer................................ 69.3 Foundries............................... 135.2 Tube mills............................. 135.8 Heavy rolling mills.............. 86.1 Plate mills............................. 137.9 Sheet mills............................. 78.2 Fabricating............................ 294.1 Mechanical............................. 136.4 Yards...................................... 50.1 28.9 65.5 33.0 105.6 35.2 55.5 84.3 41.1 158.7 85.9 34.3 193.7 143.4 170.8 102.0 65.7 40.0 55.8 28.1 22.2 37.6 22.7 82.5 126.9 73.4 55.5 16.0 30.1 36.8 22.0 12.3 24.8 17.3 128.8 135.0 199.1 100.8 105.5 90.4 176.0 52.7 201.6 131.7 97.4 36.0 58.6 42.2 78.0 18.9 38.8 68.4 22.6 59.1 52.4 35.2 58.5 50.6 46.8 31.3 32.3 32.7 45.0 28.3 61.7 46.6 37.3 37.7 45.8 28.7 25.1 11.2 25.0 27.2 22.5 28.2 39.6 24.8 89.3 100.3 103.5 164.7 139.9 104.9 128.9 113.6 181.0 129.4 90.3 110.5 143.1 80.7 180.0 65.4 95.8 140.7 220.7 122.7 146.7 101.8 10.0 28.2 34.3 32.8 31.0 30.0 3.0 6.8 5.0 2.7 12.0 7.5 15.0 4.5 10.7 2.3 3.9 10.0 7.1 99.0 165.3 Severity rates (per 10,000 hours’ exposure). Blast furnaces........................ Open hearths........................ Bessemer................................ Foundries............................... Tube mills............................. Heavy rolling mills.............. Plate mills.............................. Sheet mills............................. Fabricating............................ Mechanical............................. Yards...................................... 10.8 13.8 12.3 14.4 11.4 11.4 16.1 15.4 30.9 12.0 6.8 14.5 29.7 18.5 8.6 19.3 15.8 16.7 6.0 16.8 28.7 24.0 13.8 13.1 5.3 7.0 14.8 12.3 .9 2.2 4.0 10.7 9.2 5.7 4.2 12.7 6.1 3.1 6.6 12.3 .4 2.2 .8 18.6 .2 2.0 8.7 11.2 4.3 2.8 9.7 13.6 5.5 .3 2.9 5.5 15.7 8.1 5.0 8.6 4.1 5.8 .4 .7 2.6 1.7 2.5 1.9 .6 .7 1.8 3.1 5.4 2.5 11.4 2.9 2.2 7.4 1.0 1.4 2.5 2.1 .6 .4 2.1 2.3 4.9 .4 3.3 1.7 3.0 2.6 1.9 2.9 1.7 2.7 2.9 3.0 2.9 4.0 3.6 2.3 4.4 4.1 2.8 2.5 4.1 2.0 5.3 3.4 10.4 10.5 79.0 .1 2.1 .6 4.2 8.0 1.8 2.8 25.4 19.0 11.8 13.5 .1 .8 5.9 .1 .8 .1 2.8 54.4 Table 43 presents a more extended analysis of accident causes and shows how they have been changing from year to year since 1913. A very characteristic hazard of the iron and steel business is that from hot substances. This has gone from 5.4 cases per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure in 1913 to 1.2 in 1921, a drop of 78 per cent. Han dling objects and tools is nearly always the cause of the greatest number of accidents. The accident rates from this cause have gone from 26.7 cases in 1913 to 6.5 in 1921, a decline of 76 per cent. It should be noticed that probably not all of this decline can be at tributed to the development of the safety movement. The year 1921 was a depressed industrial year, while 1913 was a year of excep tional industrial activity. The decline of the entire group from 1913 to 1921 was 78 per cent, while the drop from 1913 to 1920 was 64 per cent. The years 1913 and 1920 are each years of rather tense industrial conditions. It is probable that the 64 per cent drop represents more exactly the influence of safety effort than does the 45 M INES, QUARRIES, AND METALLURGICAL WORKS. T able 43.—ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES (PER 1,000,000 HOURS' EXPOSURE) IN THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY, 1913 TO 1921, BY ACCIDENT CAUSES. Accident cause. Machinery..................................................... Working machines............................... Caught in ........................................ Breakage......................................... Moving material in....................... Cranes..................................................... Overhead........................................ Locomotive.................................... Other hoisting................................ Vehicles......................................................... Hot substances............................................. Electricity............................................. Hot me^al.............................................. Hot water, steam, etc.......................... Falls of persons............................................ From ladders........................................ From scaffolds...................................... Into openings........................................ Due to insecure footing....................... Falling material, not otherwise specified. Handling objects and tools........................ Objects dropped in handling............. Caught between object handled and other object........................................ Trucks and barrows............................. Lifting or pulling................................. Objects flying from tools.................... Slivers and edges.................................. Using tools............................................. Miscellaneous............................................... Asphyxiating gas................................. Flying objects not striking eye......... Flying objects striking eye................. Heat cramps, etc.................................. Other causes......................................... Total.......................................... ........ 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 Total. 7.3 5.0 4.9 5.4 3.8 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5 1.8 1.7 1.7 .1 .1 .1 .1 1.2 .8 .8 .8 3.5 2.3 2.3 2.8 2.8 1.9 2.0 2.5 .3 .2 .2 .2 .4 .2 .1 .1 2.3 1.9 1.6 1.7 5.4 3.6 3.7 4.5 .5 .4 .2 .4 3.6 2.1 2.3 3.0 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.1 4.5 4.1 3.5 3.7 .3 .1 .1 .1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .1 .1 .3 3.8 3.7 3.1 3.1 1.2 .7 .7 .6 26.7 19.4 20.6 21.5 11.2 7.3 7.6 8.4 3.4 2.6 2.6 3.1 1.9 1.0 1.4 1.4 2.5 2.3 2.5 2.5 .2 .2 .1 .1 3.8 3.4 3.8 3.1 3.7 2.6 2.6 2.9 12.9 8.8 6.5 7.0 .3 .2 .1 .1 .8 .6 .6 .5 2.9 2.1 1.7 1.9 .9 .8 .4 .4 8.0 5.1 3.7 4.1 60.3 43.5 41.5 44.4 4.5 2.0 1.2 .1 .7 2.5 2.2 .2 .1 1.7 3.6 .3 2.5 .8 3.2 .1 .3 .2 2.6 .4 15.7 6.1 2.1 1.2 2.0 .1 2.2 2.0 5.4 .1 .4 1.6 .1 3.2 34.5 4.0 1.8 1.1 .1 .6 2.2 1.9 .2 .1 1.3 3.0 .3 2.1 .6 2.8 .2 .2 .1 2.3 .3 12.8 5.5 1.7 .9 1.4 .1 1.5 1.7 4.6 .1 .5 1.6 .2 2.2 28.8 3.3 1.4 .9 .1 .4 1.9 1.6 .2 .1 1.2 2.8 .2 2.0 .6 2.8 .1 .2 .1 2.3 .4 11.7 5.0 1.7 .7 1.4 .1 1.3 1.4 4.1 .2 .3 1.3 .1 2.2 26.3 3.4 1.5 1.0 .1 .4 1.9 1.5 .2 .2 .1 2.5 .3 1.8 .4 2.5 .1 .2 .1 2.1 10.4 4.4 1.3 .6 1.1 .1 1.5 1.4 3.1 .1 .3 1.1 .1 1.5 22.0 1.8 .8 .6 .06 .1 1.0 .8 .2 .7 .5 1.2 .1 .8 .2 1.7 .09 .1 .07 1.4 .1 6.5 2.6 .7 .5 .8 .07 1.1 .8 1.3 .5 .2 .5 .06 .6 13.3 4.4 2.1 1.4 .1 .6 2.3 1.9 .2 .2 1.5 3.4 .3 2.3 .8 3.2 .1 .2 .1 2.7 .5 16.0 6.4 2.1 1.1 1.8 .1 2.4 2.1 5.5 .1 .4 1.6 .3 3.0 34.5 MINES, QUARRIES, AND METALLURGICAL WORKS, COAL MINES. The Bureau of Mines publishes annual statements regarding coal mines, metal mines, quarries, coke ovens, and metallurgical works, presenting the facts in detail. The data as to these industries here with presented are taken from these reports. Table 44 summarizes the facts regarding number of employees, average production per man, and fatalities in coal mines from 1907 to 1921. There are two things which it is desirable to know regarding any such record: (1) Does it represent increasing or decreasing hazard to the men employed? (2) Is the production cost due to accidents going up or down ? It has been usual to express the fatality rate for mining operations in terms of the deaths “ per million tons mined.” Any such expression standing by itself should be, as it has been, severely criticised. An increase in output accompanied by a serious rise in fatality is the securing of results at too great a cost. In Table 44 are presented both phases of the matter. The fatality rate for coal mines has irregularly but quite steadily declined. From 1907 to 1921 there was a drop of 34 per cent. In the meantime pro duction per death rose 71 per cent. Evidently coal mining is being conducted in a manner which is both less dangerous to the miners and more efficient in getting out the coal than was the case in 1907. 39554°—23—Bull. 339---- i STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. 46 Table 44.—NUMBER OF MEN EMPLOYED, AVERAGE PRODUCTION PER MAN, MEN KILLED, AND FATALITY RATES IN COAL MINES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1907 TO 1921. Men employed. Year. 1907................................................. 1908................................................. 1-909................................................. 1910................................................. 1911................................................. 1912................................................. 1913................................................. 1914................................................. 1915................................................. 1916................................................. 1917................................................. 1918................................................. 1919................................................. 1920................................................. 1921................................................. Average production per man (tons). Equiv Actual alent number. full-year Per year. Per day. workers. 680,492 690,438 666,552 725,030 728,348 722,662 747,644 763,185 734,008 720,971 757,317 762,426 776,569 780,000 750,000 523,979 448,785 531,689 534,122 541,997 593,131 526.598 511.598 565,766 634,666 654,973 542,217 626,667 708 603 691 692 682 740 762 673 724 818 860 890 713 827 3.06 3.09 3.15 3.10 3.29 3.20 3.25 3.46 3.48 3.43 3.45 3.41 3.43 Men killed. 3,242 2,445 2,642 2,821 2,656 2,419 2,785 2,454 2,269 2,226 2,696 2,580 2,314 2,271 1,973 Fatality rate (per 1,000,000 hours’ ex posure). 2.06 1.82 1.77 1.66 1.49 1.57 1.55 1.48 1.31 1.42 1.31 1.42 1.21 1.20 Produc tion per death (short tons). 147,407 167,407 174,416 177,808 186,887 220,945 204,685 209,261 234,197 265,094 241,618 262,873 239,082 234,308 251,124 In Table 45 are presented the place of occurrence and the cause of the fatal accidents in coal mines in the years 1916 to 1921. The serious danger in mines, as shown very conspicuously by this table, is falling material from roof or face, accounting for nearly half of all the accidents, and there is practically no decline in fatalities from this cause from year to year. This fact of no decline in the most serious menace to mine workers in the period is much more evident when fatality rates are calculated for the several causes. Such rates, based on the number of full-year workers shown in Table 44, are also presented in Table 45. It would be advantageous if the number of employees working both underground and on the surface were known, so that separate fatality rates could be computed. Undoubtedly the rates for the underground workers would be higher and those for the surface group lower than those shown for all employees. It is not possible, with the data available, to compute such rates. It would seem from a consideration of the fatality rates for the various accident causes in coal mining shown in Table 45 that the industry as a whole has been at a standstill in the matter of safety during recent years, conditions neither improving nor getting worse. Some of the progressive companies, however, are showing accident reductions quite comparable with those secured in manufacturing. MINES, QUARRIES, AND METALLURGICAL WORKS. 47 Table 45.—FATALITIES AT COAL MINES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1916 TO 1921, BY PLACE OF OCCURRENCE AND CAUSE. 1916 Place of occurrence and accident cause. 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 Number of fatalities. Underground: Material falling from roof or face.............................. 1,065 1,147 1,294 1,100 Mine cars and locomotives.......................................... 390 482 506 381 Gas and dust explosions.............................................. 226 199 129 191 Explosives...................................................................... 206 146 111 135 Electricity...................................................................... 90 79 88 69 Miscellaneous underground........................................ 110 361 129 130 Total underground.................................................... 2,027 2,379 2,281 2,077 Shaft....................................................................................... 52 52 52 49 Surface: Haulage.......................................................................... 114 118 91 75 Machinery...................................................................... 22 51 47 28 Miscellaneous................................................................. 82 100 66 53 Total surface............................................................... 150 265 247 185 Grand total................................................................. 2,226 2,696 2,580 2,314 Underground: Material falling from roof or face................................ Mine cars and locomotives.......................................... Gas and dust explosions.............................................. Explosives...................................................................... Electricity...................................................................... Miscellaneous................................................................. Total underground.................................................... Shaft....................................................................................... Surface: Haulage........................................................................... Machinery...................................................................... Miscellaneous................................................................. Total surface............................................................... Grand total................................................................. 1,132 408 164 128 76 112 2,020 56 78 29 88 195 2,271 1,019 338 115 152 80 116 1,820 36 44 17 56 117 1,973 Fatality retes (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure).1 0.63 .23 .13 .09 .05 .07 1.19 .03 .04 .01 .03 .09 1.31 0. 60 .25 .10 .06 .05 .19 1.25 .03 .06 .03 .05 . 14 1. 42 0.66 .26 .07 .06 .04 .07 1.16 .03 .06 .03 .03 12 1.31 0.67 .23 .12 .13 .05 .08 1.28 .03 .06 .02 .03 . 11 1.42 0.60 .22 .00 .06 .04 .06 1.07 .03 .04 .02 .05 .11 1. 21 0.62 .21 .07 .09 .05 .06 1.10 .02 .03 .02 .03 .08 1.20 1 The rates above become comparable with those on the basis of full-year workers when multiplied by 3. Table 46 affords an interesting comparison between the hazard of coal mining and that of railway operation. It would appear that on the whole coal mining presents less hazard than does tram operation. The common opinion to the contrary is a natural outcome of the fact that mining casualties come from time to time in sudden catastrophies which sometimes involve hundreds of men and excite prolonged interest on account of rescue effort, while the railwayman meets his hazard as an individual, the total railway accidents being the accumu lated result of many single accidents. Table 4 6.—COAUMINE FATALITIES VERSUS STEAM-RAILWAY FATALITIES: FATALITY Year. 1909. 1910. 1911. 1912. 1913. RATES (PER 1,000 EMPLOYEES), 1909 TO 1918.* Fatality rates (per 1,000 Fatality rates (per 1,000 employees). employees). Underground Underground workers in workers in Rail Year. Pennsylvania Rail Pennsylvania way way coalmines. train coalmines. trainAnthra Bitumi men. Anthra bitumi men. cite. nous. cite. nous. 3.97 4.19 4.88 3.90 4.33 3.12 3.03 3.23 2.73 3.59 4.87 5. 41 5. 49 5. 22 5.05 1914...................................... 1915...................................... 1916...................................... 1917...................................... 1918...................................... 3.98 4.01 4.28 4.27 4. 35 2.33 2.61 2. 92 3.13 3.10 4.73 3.53 4.07 4.23 4.29 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS, 48 METAL MINES. Table 47 presents the facts regarding the number of employees and fatal and nonfatal accidents in the different kinds of metal mines for the years 1917 to 1920. It is not possible from this table to get much idea of the course of accident occurrence during these years, but the table is of interest because it indicates the relative importance of the various forms of metal mining. Table 47.—NUMBER OF MEN EMPLOYED AND NUMBER KILLED AND INJURED IN , METAL MINES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1917 TO 1920, BY KIND OF MINE. Kind of mine. Men killed. Men employed. Ac tive oper Under Sur Under Sur To ators. ground. face. Total. ground. face. tal. 1917. Copper............................................ 649 Gold, silver, and miscellaneous metal.......................................... 3,166 Iron................................................ 205 Lead and zinc (Mississippi Val ley)............................................. 369 Nonmetallic mineral................... 248 Total................................... 4,637 1918. Copper........................................... 524 Gold, silver, and miscellaneous metal.......................................... 2,429 Iron................................................ 176 Lead and zinc (Mississippi Val ley)............................................. 236 Nonmetallic mineral................... 271 Total................................... 3,636 1919. Copper........................................... 410 Gold, silver, and miscellaneous metal.......................................... 2,430 Iron................................................ 157 Lead and zinc (Mississippi Val ley) ............................................. 141 Nonmetallic mineral................... 245 Total................................... 3,383 1920. Copper........................................... 387 Gold, silver, and miscellaneous metal.......................................... 2,358 Iron................................................ 154 Lead and zinc (Mississippi Val ley) ............................................. 119 Nonmetallic mineral................... 263 Total................................... 3,281 Men injured (time lost more than 1 day). Under Sur ground. face. Total 17,560 16,080 25,681 5,194 7,187 71,702 61,275 51,892 57,230 20,269 9,913 200,579 1352 166 135 65 9 727 22 30 56 3 14 125 374 16,532 3,403 19,935 196 7,144 1,241 8,385 191 8,872 3,406 12,278 68 3,777 767 4,544 23 430 714 1,144 852 36,755 9,531 46,286 42,286 28,061 28,775 10,344 2,690 112,156 17,161 15,582 24,890 3,660 9,157 70,450 59,447 43,643 53,665 14,004 11,847 182,606 180 152 128 43 10 513 40 29 51 4 9 133 220 17,201 3,312 20,513 181 5,429 2,418 7,847 179 6,858 2,763 9,621 47 3,145 601 3,746 334 854 1,188 19 646 32,967 9,948 42,915 27,298 21,868 28,234 10,075 3,356 | 90,831 12,029 10,262 19,442 2,893 9,805 54,431 39,327 32,130 47,676 12,968 13,161 145,262 120 113 107 42 5 388 20 13 32 3 12 80 140 10,002 2,234 12,236 126 4,656 813 5,469 139 6,907 2,191 9,098 45 2,822 363 3,185 18 414 1,104 1,518 468 24,801 6,705 31,506 23,671 20,077 25,627 8,861 3,149 | 81,385 11,853 9,856 20,363 2,777 10,619 55,198 35,254 29,933 45,990 11,638 13,768 136,583 107 100 86 33 8 334 21 17 20 3 30 91 128 117 106 36 38 425 43,715 35,812 31,549 15,075 2,726 128,877 1 1 Includes 161 fatalities due to the North Butte mine fire, Butte, Mont. 1 9,624 4,794 6,734 3,223 571 24,946 2,423 12,047 910 5,704 2,338 9,072 384 3,607 1,561 2,132 7,616 32,562 In Table 48 accident rates for all metal mines combined are com puted for the years 1911 to 1920. The rates for injury show a tendency to increase, which is probably due to more complete reporting. On the other hand, fatality rates show a tendency to decline, which is significaiit, since deaths have probably been quite uniformly reported during the period. The fatality rates for underground workers de clined from 1.83 cases per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure in 1911 to 1.39 in 1920, or 24 per cent. The surface workers had a fatality rate scarcely one-half of the rate for underground workers during tne en tire period. The decline in fatality rates for surface workers was from 0.88 per 1,000 hours’ exposure in 1911 to 0.56 in 1920, or 37 per cent. MINES, QUARRIES, AND METALLURGICAL WORKS, 49 Table 48.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES FOR METAL MINES IN THE UNITED STATES (PER 1,000,000 HOURS’ EXPOSURES), 1911 TO 1920. Equivalent of full-year workers. Year. Accident frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure). Men killed. Men injured. Under Under Under ground. Surface. Total. ground. Surface. Total. ground. Surface. Total. 1911....................................... 1912....................................... 1913....................................... 1914....................................... 1915....................................... 1916....................................... 1917....................................... 1918....................................... 1919....................................... 1920....................................... 98,389 105,153 121,293 91,659 89,821 125,601 126,815 113,441 85,769 80,215 57,700 56,509 62,300 50,960 52,176 66,854 65,270 67,565 50,513 54,325 156,089 161,662 183,593 142,619 141,997 192,455 192,085 181,006 136,282 134,540 1.83 1.65 1.51 1.70 1.67 1.52 1.91 1.51 1.51 1.39 .88 .82 .72 .61 .65 .61 .64 .66 .53 .56 1.48 1,36 1.24 1.31 1.30 1.21 1.48 1.19 1.14 1.05 72.43 78.81 70.15 87.27 106.62 102.04 96.61 96.87 96.39 103.66 30.03 34.65 39.84 40.68 41.95 48.80 48.67 49.08 44.25 46.73 56.76 63.37 59.86 70.62 82.85 83.55 80.32 70.03 77.06 80.67 QUARRIES. In Table 49, which sets forth the number of men employed and accident frequency rates for quarries during two 5-year periods, a very slight improvement is noted in the fatality rate for the 5-year period 1916 to 1920 over that for 1911 to 1915. The accident rate for injuries increased up to the year 1917 and slightly declined thereafter. The increase, as pointed out before, is very probably due to more complete reporting and not to greater hazard. Table 49.—NUMBER OF MEN EMPLOYED, NUMBER OF MEN KILLED AND INJURED, AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES FOR QUARRIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1911 TO 1920. Men employed. Year. 1911..................................................................... 1912..................................................................... 1913..................................................................... 1914..................................................................... 1915..................................................................... Average, 5 years................................... 1916..................................................................... 1917..................................................................... 1918..................................................................... 1919..................................................................... 1920..................................................................... Average, 5 years.................................... Average, 10 years............. .................. Men Equiva killed. lent Actual number. full-year workers. 110,954 113,105 106,278 87,936 100,740 103,803 90,707 82,290 68,332 75,505 86,488 80,682 92,243 84,417 93,837 87,141 68,187 82,447 83,206 76,457 71,525 59,285 63,794 77,089 69,630 76,418 188 213 183 180 148 182 173 131 125 123 178 146 164 Men injured. 5,390 6,552 7,739 7,836 9,671 7,437 13,427 13,242 8,719 9,199 11,217 11,161 9,299 Frequency rates ( p e r 1,000,000 hours’ exposure). Men killed. 0.74 .76 .70 .88 .60 .73 .75 .61 .70 .64 .77 .70 .72 Men injured. 21.28 23.67 29.60 38.31 39.10 29.80 58.54 61.71 49.02 48.07 48.50 53.43 40.56 50 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. METALLURGICAL PLANTS. Table 50, embodying the accident experience of metallurgical plants from 1913 to 1920, covers ore dressing, smelting, and auxiliary plants. Of these smelting has the highest rates both for fatalities and for injuries. Rates for fatalities declined 64 per cent and those for injury 19 per cent. Table 50.—NUMBER OF MEN EMPLOYED, NUMBER OF MEN KILLED AND INJURED, AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES FOR METALLURGICAL PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1913 TO 1920. Men employed. Men Equiva killed. lent Actual number. full-year workers. Kind of plants and year. Ore-dressing plants: 1913.............................................................. 1914............................................................. 1915.............................................................. 1916............................................................. 1917 1........................................................... 19181........................................................... 19191........................................................... 19201........................................................... Smelting plants:3 1913.............................................................. 1914.............................................................. 1915.............................................................. 1916............................................................. 1917 1........................................................... 19181........................................................... 19191........................................................... i t e o L .: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : .: : : : : : : : : : : : : : Auxiliary works: 1913, 1914, 19158........................................ 1916.............................................................. 1917.............................................................. 1918............................................................. 1919.............................................................. 1920............................................................. Men injured. Frequency rates ( p e r 1,000,000 hours' exposure.) Men killed. Men injured. 14,985 15,128 18,564 22,365 24,111 21,809 17,262 15,959 20,564 27,879 31,327 43,829 44,376 39,899 28,777 24,944 16,154 15,225 19,107 23,470 24,372 22,517 16,862 15,977 24,309 32,336 36,262 49,363 50,659 45,439 31,324 29,137 16 23 30 33 47 35 25 21 47 33 38 36 53 42 34 20 1,977 1,434 2,095 3,184 2,952 3,142 2,057 2,624 4,247 5,673 5,718 9,656 7,745 6,743 4,431 4,147 G. 33 .50 .52 .47 .64 .55 .49 .44 .64 .34 .35 .24 .35 .31 .36 .23 40.79 31.40 36.55 45.22 40.37 46.51 40.74 54.75 58.24 58.48 52.56 65.20 50.96 49.47 47.15 47.44 14,007 15,555 18,044 15,081 16,005 15,763 17,014 20,111 16,172 18,005 14 16 17 5 20 2,240 2,881 2,808 1,638 2,092 .30 .31 .28 .10 .37 47.37 56.44 46.54 33.76 38.73 1 Not including auxiliary works, as shops, yards, etc. * Exclusive of iron blast furnaces. 8 Not separately reported. COKE OVENS. Table 51 gives accident data for coke ovens as a unit. This is not wholly desirable since there are two processes, the beehive and the by-product, whose hazards are materially different. So far, how ever, as the data presented indicates the situation, the accident fre quency rates fluctuate irregularly, with no particular tendency either upward or downward. When these rates are compared with those in Table 39, which are for certain by-product coke ovens operated in connection with steel mills, it will be noted that the by-product ovens have on the whole higher rates but that their rates show much more improvement. This suggests that possibly some coke ovens have not come within the influence of the safety movement to the same extent as have those associated with the steel mills. 51 MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES. Table 51.—NUMBER OF MEN EMPLOYED, FATALITIES, AND INJURIES, AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATES FOR COKE OVENS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1915 TO 1921. Men employed. Year. 1915.................................................................... 1916.................................................................... 1917.................................................................... 1918.................................................................... 1919.................................................................... Average for 5 years............................... 1920.................................................................... 1921........................................... ........................ Men Equiva killed. lent Actual number. full-year workers. 31,060 31,603 32,417 32,389 28,741 31,242 28,139 16,204 31,415 34,119 35,595 35,476 27,674 32,856 29,921 13,868 38 45 76 73 53 57 49~ 17 Men injured. Frequency rates (per 1,000,000 horns' exposure.) 2,852 5,237 6,713 7,792 4,031 5,325 3,415 1,853 Men killed. 0.40 .44 .71 .69 .64 .58 .55 .41 Men injured. 30.26 51.16 62.86 73.21 48.55 54.02 38.04 44.54 MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES. From time to time the Bureau of Labor Statistics has secured from various sources such accident reports as were available from industrial groups which were of sufficient size to be significant. The data for the following industries are presented because they were in condition to be readily put into standard form. Others oi equal significance are omitted, since it was either impossible to put the data as to them into standard form or else to do so would require too much time. No attempt has been made to include entire industries, but an effort has been made in each case to secure a volume of records of sufficient size to be fairly representative. The nearest approach to data for entire industries will be found in the section devoted to State accident data (pp. 8 to 23). Since only 22 States publish an indus trial classification and some of the largest, such as New York and Ohio, have not recently published any extended statistics, it is evident that completeness is impossible. It should be noted that practically all of the data of the industrial concerns here included are available because such concerns have made a good record in accident prevention. They represent some of the most successful efforts thus far made in the field of accident preven tion. This is from some viewpoints an advantage. While the average attainment of an industry is a fair standard to insist upon for all units of that industry, yet it is worth while at times to present such unusual results as are attained by the best organizations. These indicate what may be done by the highest skill and the most perfect organization yet attained, and after all the best is none too good. AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND SUPPLIES. Table 52 gives the number of full-year workers, number of acci dents, and frequency and severity rates for the agricultural ma chinery and supplies industry, and represents, as the number of fullyear workers indicates, a very substantial portion of such industry. 52 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. Table 52. —NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS. NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS. AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES FOR THE AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND SUPPLIES INDUSTRY, 1912 TO 1921. Operation and year. Agricultural machinery, general manufacture: 1912..................................................................................... 1913..................................................................................... 1914..................................................................................... 1915..................................................................................... 1916..................................................................................... 1917..................................................................................... 1918..................................................................................... 1919..................................................................................... 1920..................................................................................... 1921..................................................................................... Operation of woodworking machines: 1912.................................................................................... 1913.................................................................................... 1914.................................................................................... 1915..................................................................................... 1916.................................................................................... 1917.................................................................................... 1918..................................................................................... 1919..................................................................................... 1920..................................................................................... 1921..................................................................................... Manufacture of binder twine: 1912.................................................................................... 1913..................................................................................... 1914..................................................................................... 1915..................................................................................... 1916..................................................................................... 1917..................................................................................... 1918..................................................................................... 1919..................................................................................... 1920..................................................................................... 1921..................................................................................... Equiva Frequency Severity lent Number rates (per rates number of of acci 1,000,000 (per 1,000 full-year dents. hours’ ex hours’ ex workers. posure). posure). 23,118 22,832 13,955 13,654 16,168 19,487 20,152 18,652 23,136 9,077 1,925 1,858 1,179 1,064 1,191 1,576 1,707 1,571 1,589 652 2,875 2,753 2,401 2,305 2,828 2,114 2,493 1,844 2,166 1,606 5,433 4,894 1,.571 1,059 1,826 2,334 2,094 1,668 2,059 580 372 315 108 82 122 184 197 123 125 38 525 394 296 186 205 191 153 73 121 81 78.34 71.45 37.53 25.85 37.65 39.92 34.64 29.81 29.67 21.30 64.41 56.52 30.55 25.70 34.14 38.92 38.47 26.10 26.22 19.44 60.87 47.71 41.09 26.90 24.16 30.11 20.45 13.19 18.62 16. S2 1.80 2.64 1.64 1.80 2.38 2.15 2.29 2.07 2.34 1.05 2.06 2.84 1.87 1.58 5.02 1.22 2.99 1.35 1.70 5.11 1.37 2.69 2.86 .58 1.80 .69 2.39 .73 .76 .45 The frequency rates show a very consistent decline between 1912 and 1921, those for general manufacture declining from 78.3 to 21.3 per 1,000,000 hours7 exposure, or 73 per cent, while in woodworking the decline was 71 per cent and in the manufacture of binder twine 72 per cent. The severity rates are more irregular. This is likely to be the case unless the exposure is very large, being due to the necessarily con siderable influence on the rates of the more serious injuries, such as those causing death. These happen with relative infrequency but weight the severity heavily when they do happen. The decline in general manufacture in accident severity is from 1.80 days per 1,000 hours7 exposure in 1912 to 1.05 in 1921, or 42 per cent. If 1912 and 1921 be compared, woodworking will appear to have increased its severity rate. This is evidently due to the small exposure in the latter year and the occurrence of death. If 1913 and 1920 are considered, there was a 40 per cent decline. The manufacture of binder twine registers a decline in accident severity rates of 85 per cent from 1914, when severity was highest (2.86 days), to 1921, when severity was lowest (0.45 days). AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY. The accident data for January to June, 1922, presented in Table 53 cover a very large fraction of the workers engaged in the production of automobiles. The accident rates, both frequency and severity, 53 MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES. are low. On the whole, accident frequency was increasing and accident severity decreasing, the rise in frequency probably being closely related to the fact that the period covered was one in which there was a constantly augmented number of workers. Table 53.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS AND FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AUTOMOBILES, JANUARY TO JUNE, 1922. Group A . Frequency Severity Hours of (per rate (per of rate exposure, Number 1,000 1,000,000 (thousands). accidents. hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). Period. January, 1922........................................................................ February, 192S.................................................................... March, 1922.......................................................................... 22 months to March, 1922.................................................. 5,672 6,333 7,749 141,761 120 157 203 3,861 21.17 24.79 26.21 27.2 0.34 .60 .36 .56 Group B . « Frequency Severity rate (cases rate (per Days in Number of Number of per 1,000 operation. workers. accidents. 1,000,000 hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). Month. January, 1922.................................................... February, 1922.................................................. March, 1922........................................................ April, 1922.......................................................... May, 1922........................................................... June, 1922........................................ ................. 14 16 20 25 26 26 37,766 36,792 37,296 41,766 45,946 49,850 34 34 59 91 114 131 8.43 7.22 9.89 11.43 12.51 13.25 0.79 .06 .58 .30 .47 .23 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION. The accident data in Table 54 are for three groups of building construction workers. This sort of work presents difficulties regard ing safety not to be found in industries which have a local habitation, as many of the appliances are of a temporary nature and must be transported with every new project, which makes it difficult to give them the proper oversight; also, there is nearly always some pressure for haste. The comparison in Table 54 is therefore important as it demonstrates that in this difficult field the same sort of effort which has been effective elsewhere will produce results. The three groups are not strictly comparable since Groups A and C include a greater proportion of operations of a hazardous character than Group B. The significant thing is that Group A in a three-year period cut accident frequency 5 per cent and accident severity 44 per cent, showing that while construction is characterized by a high proportion of severe injury it is particularly amenable to those improvements included under “ engineering revision.” 54 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS, Table 54.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS. NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, 1919 TO 1921. Frequency Severity Hours of Equivalent Number of rates (per rates exposure full-year accidents. 1,000,000 (per 1,000 hours’ (thousands). workers. hours’ exposure). exposure). Year. Group A; 1919.........................................................« 1920........................................................... 1921........................................................... Group B: i 1919.......................................................... 1920........................................................... Group C: a Year ending June 30,1920................... Four months ending Sept. 30, 1920... 4,140 7,635 3,695 14,788 11,362 10,025 2,291 1,380 2,545 1,232 4,929 3,787 3,342 764 1 National Safety News, August, 1921, p. 23. 216 300 184 247 177 519 82 52.2 39.3 49.8 16.7 15.6 51.8 35.8 6.1 10.1 3.4 3.1 1.2 3.3 .8 *Idem, Mar. 21,1921, p. 13. COPPER WORKS. Table 55 contrasts two rather widely separated years in the acci dent experience of a copper works. The years given are favorable for comparison because they were both years of rather high industrial activity and because the amount of exposure was practically the same in each. Accident frequency declined 75 per cent and severity 81 per cent. Table 55. —NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS. NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN A COPPER WORKS, FISCAL YEARS 1913 AND 1920.1 Frequency Severity Hours of Equivalent Number of rates (per rates exposure full-year accidents. 1,000,000 (per 1,000 (thousands). workers. hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). Year ending— 2,815 2,985 Aug. 31,1913................... .-............................ Nov. 30,1920.................................................. 938 995 236 63 83.9 21.1 3.2 .6 i National Safety News, Mar. 28, 1921, p. 8. ELECTRICAL APPARATUS. In Table 56 is recorded the accident experience of the electrical apparatus manufacturing industry for the year 1920 and six months oi the year 1921. Accident frequency drops between the two periods 47 per cent while accident severity goes down 54 per cent. The exposure is not sufficient to be very impressive, but the declining rates are another evidence of the possible results of serious safety effort. T able 56.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS. NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRI CAL APPARATUS, 1920 AND JANUARY TO JUNE, 1921.1 Year. Frequency Severity Hours of Equivalent Number of rates (per rates full-year accidents. 1,000,000 (per 1,000 exposure (thousands). workers. hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). 1920.................................................................. 1921, January 1 to June 30.......................... i National Safety News, December; 1921, p. 34. 4,926 1,986 1,642 662 51 11 10.4 5.5 .35 .16 55 MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES. EXPLOSIVES, DYES, AND CHEMICALS. Table 57 presents an extended showing of the accident experience of a company which is a large producer of explosives and other chemical products. The first part of the table contrasts the accident occurrence in two industrially active years. In the earlier year safety activity in the modern sense had scarcely gotten a foothold. The severity rate of 1910 (14.43 days) will at once be seen to be among the extraordinarily high rates such as those of the erection of structural steel, railway brakemen, and logging. After a decline of 75 per cent from 1910, the rate in 1920 (3.67 days) is no longer conspicuously high. The second part of the table presents fatality rates from 1908 to 1920 and nonfatal-accident rates from 1915 to 1920, in both of which there was a remarkable decline. From 1908 to 1920 the fatality frequency rates went down 86 per cent, while from 1916 to 1920 nonfatal frequency rates dropped 55 per cent. This is the more remark able when it is noted that the company expanded enormously from 1914 to 1918. Nothing but most intense and effective safety effort could have accomplished this result in such a highly hazardous industry. T able 57.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS, NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EXPLO SIVES, DYES, AND CHEMICALS, 1908 TO 1920.1 Frequency Severity Hours of Equivalent Number of rates (per rates exposure full-year 1,000,000 (per 1,000 (thousands). workers. accidents. hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). Year. 1910................................................................. 1920................................................................. 14,070 48,396 4,690 16,132 Hours of Equivalent full-year exposure (thousands). workers. 1908.......................................................... . 1909.................................................................. 1910.................................................................. 1911.................................................................. 1912................................................................. 1913................................................................. 1914................................................................. 1915................................................................. 1916................................................................. 1917................................................................. 1918................................................................. 1919................................................................. 1920................................................................. 9,963 12,129 14,070 14,184 13,719 12,873 12,399 160,398 112,581 119,202 195,405 51,624 48,396 3,321 4,043 4,690 4,728 4,573 4,291 4,133 53,466 37,527 39,734 65,135 17,208 16,132 430 813 30.57 16.80 14.43 3.67 Frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure). Fatal Nonfatal accidents. accidents. 3.50 2.06 2.20 1.20 .80 1.71 .57 .59 1.07 .43 .46 .41 .50 25. £7 36.05 35.33 25.69 18.22 16.30 Total. 26.46 37.12 35.76 26.15 18.63 16.80 1National Safety News, Feb. 21,1921, p. 4. LIGHT AND POWER. The data in Table 58 for Group A cover the 5-year accident experience of a light and power company. Prior to 1920 accident severity rates had fallen, but in that year, because of an increase in fatalities, they shot up. From 1920 on there was a remarkable decline in both frequency and severity rates. Group B had a much 56 STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. larger exposure, and while quite similar in the matter of frequency, shows a much lower severity rate, due to the relatively less fatality. The severity rates of Group A suggest that there is room for very careful further study of possible safeguards. Table 5 8 .—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS, NUM BER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN A LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY, 1918 TO 1922. Fre Hours of Equiva Severity Number quency (per (per 1,000 exposure lent Number acci of 1,000,000 hours’ ex (thou full-year ofdents. deaths. sands). workers. hours’ ex posure). posure). Year. Group A:1 1918............................................................. 1919............................................................. 1920............................................................. 1921............................................................ 1922............................................................. Group B: 1921................................................. 2.059 2.059 2,100 1,931 2,317 16,800 686 686 700 643 772 5,600 74 69 123 47 31 387 3 2 7 5 2 5 35.9 33.5 58.6 24.3 13.3 22.8 9.08 6.23 20.90 15.90 5.40 2.00 1 National Safety News, February, 1923, p. 33. MACHINE BUILDING. Table 59 summarizes the study which the Bureau of Labor Sta tistics has made of the hazards of machine building. The data secured in 1912 were published in Bulletin No. 216, which was after wards revised on the basis of the information secured in 1917 and issued as Bulletin No. 256. Details regarding the different kinds of machine building are found in that bulletin. The same ground was covered in 1921 and the results here presented in conjunction with data for 1912 and 1917. The death frequency in machine building increased somewhat in 1917 as compared with 1912, but dropped again from 1917 to 1921. From 1912 to 1921 the decline was 20 per cent. The rates for nonfatal accidents go steadily down from 1913 to 1921—a decline of 46 per cent. Table 5 9 .—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS, NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY RATES IN MACHINE BUILDING, 1912, 1917, AND 1921. Year. Accident frequency rates (per Number of accidents. Equiva 1,000,000 hours’ exposure). lent full-year workers. Fatal. Nonfatal. Total. Fatal. Nonfatal. Total 1912.................................................. 115,703 1917.................................................. 94,103 1921.................................................. 103,181 37 40 25 13,610 8,677 6,244 13,647 8,717 6,269 0.10 .13 .08 39.23 30.73 20.33 39.33 30.86 20.41 MANUFACTURE OF CAMERAS. Table 60 contrasts the accident occurrence in two 6-month periods for the manufacture of photographic cameras. These rates are naturally low, since there is m the production of cameras a large number of light and relatively nonhazardous operations. The tame illustrates what can be accomplished even in such circumstances by determined effort. Accident frequency declined 30 per cent and accident severity 47 per cent. 57 MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES. T able 60.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS, NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PHOTO GRAPHIC CAMERAS, JANUARY TO JUNE, 1919 AND 19201 Frequency Severity Hours of Equivalent rates (per of rates exposure full-year Number 1.000,000 (per 1,000 (thousands). workers. accidents. hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). Period. 2,994 3,063 January to June, 1919.................................. January to June, 1920.................................. 44 30 998 1,021 13.2 9.2 0.30 .16 1 National Safety News, Aug. 30, 1920, p. 7. MANUFACTURE OF PORTLAND CEMENT. Table 61 records in the data for Group A the experience of a large section of the Portland cement industry from 1918 to 1921. Acci dent frequency gradually increased during the three years from 1918 to 1920, due probably to more complete reporting, but decreased in 1921. Accident severity also increased in the first three years of the period, but took a decided drop in 1921. Safety campaigns con ducted in a large number of plants in 1921 contributed to the low rates for that year. Group B is a portion of the larger Group A, data for which is introduced because it is the first to compile its data for 1922 and because of the remarkable reduction in severity. The Portland Cement Association was among the first to gather complete accident statistics and now has a body of information which enables it to answer almost any statistical question that may arise. Table 61.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS. NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES HTTHE MANUFACTURE OF PORTLAND CEMENT, 1918 TO 1922. Hours of Equiv Number exposure alent Number of (thou full-year of acci sands). workers. dents. deaths. Year. Group A: 1 1918............................................................. 1919............................................................. 1920............................................................. 1921............................................................. Group B:3 1921............................................................. 1922............................................................. 55,215 48,743 59,586 62,247 4,300 4,900 18,405 16,248 19,862 20,749 1,433 1,633 2,401 2,225 2,750 2,727 234 283 Fre quency Severity (per rates (per rates 1,000,000 1,000ex hours’ ex hours’ posure). posure). 38 43.50 39 45.65 53 46.16 44 , 43.81 5 54.42 57. 75 6.05 7.15 7.60 5.82 10.03 2. 21 1 Portland Cement Association: Study of Accidents, 1918; Accident Prevention Bulletin, SeptemberOctober, 1920; July-August, 1921; and May-June, 1922. * National Safety News, March, 1923, p 24. PAPER MILLS. Table 62 contains figures for two groups of plants in the papermill industry. The data for the groups are interesting since they serve to indicate the possibilities of intensive effort in such mills. Group A are mills which belong to a company which was a pioneer in safety effort and has continued the effort to the present time. Group B includes a larger number of plants, some of which have more recently begun safety efforts. STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS. 58 In Group A there was a decline in accident frequency from 1918 to 1919 of 47 per cent, while in Group B, between 1920 and 1921, there was a drop of 11 per cent. In accident severity the percentages of decline were 17 and 5, respectively. Table 62.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS, NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES, IN PAPER MILLS, 1918 TO 1921. Frequency Severity Hours of Equivalent Number of rates (per rates full-year accidents. 1,000,000 (per 1,000 exposure (thousands). workers. hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). Year. Group A:1 1918............................... .......................... 1919.......................................................... Group B:* 1920, January to June........................... 1921.......................................................... 6,240 5,980 39,325 70,617 2,080 1,993 13,108 23,539 253 129 1,870 2,972 40.6 21.6 47.5 42.1 1.57 1.31 3.10 2.96 1 National Safety News, Mar. 14, 1921, p. 10. * Idem, Sept. 27, 1920, p. 11; April, 1922, p. 50. PETROLEUM REFINING. The following data,6being for only a single year, is not as significant as those from which the trend of events can De inferred. The group covered is of sufficient size (27,010,000 hours’ exposure), however, to give a fair idea of the relation of the petroleum refining industry to others in the matter of accident frequency and severity. 1921. Hours of exposure......................................................................... 27,010,000 Equivalent full-year workers....................................................... 9, 003 Number of accidents..................................................................... 841 Frequency rates (per 1,000,000 hours’ exposure)..................... 31.15 Severity rates (per 1,000 hours ’ exposure)................................ 1. 86 RUBBER INDUSTRY. Table 63, covering six months of 1922, is the first extended report of accident occurrence in the rubber industry which has been prepared. While it does not indicate anything regarding the trend of accident occurrence, it does afford some basis for judging the conditions of this industry as compared with others. For example, accident frequency in this industry is distinctly higher than that in automobile manufac ture, and accident severity is somewhat higher. The exposure upon which the accident rates are based is 60,916,000 hours. Table 63.—NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES, FOR THE RUBBER INDUSTRY, JANUARY TO JUNE, 1922. Result of accident. Death............................................................................................................... Permanent disability................................................................................... Temporary disability.......................................................................... Total..................................................................................................... • National Safety News, July, 1922, p. 31. Number of cases. 1 17 2,099 2,117 Accident Accident frequency severity rates (per rates (per 1.000,000 1,000 hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). 0.02 .28 34.45 34.75 0.10 .16 .41 .67 MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES. 59 RUBBER TIRES. The data as to accident occurrence given in Table 64 cover two groups of workers engaged in the manufacture of rubber tires, and are for the years 1918 to 1921. Group A had a very constant decline in accident frequency, totalling 65 per cent. Accident severity declined 60 per cent from 1918 to 1920, and then rose sharply. This rise, however, must be discounted somewhat in view of the very small exposure in 1921. Group B had a much larger exposure and the data is for six months of 1921. The accident frequency rate is very near to that of Group A for the same year; the severity rate is much lower. Table 64.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS, NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCI DENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES, IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RUBBER TIRES, BY YEARS, 1918 TO 1921, AND JANUARY TO JUNE, 1921. Frequency Severity Hours of Equivalent Number of rates (per rates full-year accidents. 1.000,000 (per 1,000 exposure hours’ hours’ (thousands). workers. exposure). exposure). Year. Group A :1 1918.......................................................... 1919.......................................................... 1920.......................................................... 1921.......................................................... Group B :2 January to June, 1921.............. 4,008 4,725 4,461 1,430 35,592 1,336 1,575 1,487 477 11, 897 307 302 181 38 887 76.7 64.2 41.1 27.1 24.8 2.6 2.4 1.0 3.5 .7 1 National Safety News, April, 1922, p. 34. 2 Idem, May, 1922, p. 18. TOOL MANUFACTURE. The accident data in Table 65 for a tool-making establishment present a very unusual instance of regular and continuous decline of both accident frequency and severity. From 1916 to 1920 there was a substantial reduction, year by year, in both rates. The total decline from 1916 to 1920 was 77 per cent in frequency and 83 per cent in severity. This undoubtedly represents a constant and efficient effort at accident reduction. Table 65.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS, NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN A TOOL-MAKING PLANT, 1916 TO 1920. i Frequency Severity Hours of Equivalent Number of rates (per rates full-year accidents. 1.000,000 (per 1,000 exposure (thousands). workers. hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). Year. 1916.................................................................. 1917.................................................................. 1918.................................................................. 1919.................................................................. 1920.................................................................. 7,850 8,190 7,367 7,200 8,210 2,617 2,730 2,456 2,400 2,737 300 148 93 74 71 38.2 18.0 12.6 10.3 8.8 0.70 .35 .22 .15 .12 1National Safety News, Feb. 28, 1921, p. 12. WOODWORKING AND LOGGING. In Table 66 are given rates for woodworking additional to those shown in Table 52, and figures for logging companies supplementing those given on page 25. It is evident that logging operations present STATISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL, ACCIDENTS. 60 extra hazards which for various reasons are difficult to overcome. It is greatly to be hoped that the wide adoption of the recently formulated safety code for logging and sawmill operations will lead to a favorable change. T able 66.—NUMBER OF FULL-YEAR WORKERS, NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN WOODWORKING AND LOG GING, 1920 AND 1921.1 Item. 1920 Woodworking................................................ Logging........................................................... 1921 Woodworking................................................ Logging........................................................... Frequency Severity Hours of Equivalent Number of rates (per rates exposure full-year accidents. 1.000,000 (per 1,000 (thousands). workers. hours’ hours’ exposure). exposure). 9,129 5,238 3,043 1,746 322 294 35.0 56.0 3.11 6.83 49,792 2,331 16,597 777 2,660 191 53.5 83.0 1.22 6.68 i National Safety News, September, 1921, p. 12; July, 1922, p. 31. CONCLUSION, It is desirable in concluding this report to emphasize again some points made in the course of it: 1. The report distinctly disclaims completeness. It simply assem bles the existing records, pointing out, when necessary, where and why they are deficient. 2. The chief value of the report lies in the fact that it contains a larger body of information regarding the severity rates of different industries and departments of industry than it has been possible hitherto to assemble. The severity rate is a direct and fairly accu rate index of hazard. It is preferable to other methods of indicating hazard in that its elements are more stable and uniform than others which might be chosen, such as, for example, pay-roll and compensa tion costs. 3. The section of the bulletin devoted to State accident data re duces to somewhat comparable form the facts recorded in the various State reports regarding accidents by industries, cause of injury, nature of injury, and location of injury. This has not been possible hitherto. 4. The Federal agencies which compile accident data, namely, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Bureau of Mines, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, have steadily improved their procedure until it may fairly be said that the data which they assemble are as complete and accurate as can reasonably be expected and afford a clear idea of the extent of the accident problem in the industries covered and of the trend from year to year. o
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