From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Industrial bulletin from May 1941 discussing workplace accidents, safety procedures, and chemical hazards.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 143\2\ scan0218 | |
| Date | 1st May 1941 | |
| INDUSTRIAL BULLETIN—MAY, 1941 MARGIN FOR NOTES Current Literature—continued Extracts Accidents in lumber manufacture—It is often claimed that, in general, the larger establishment has the better safety record. Whatever may be the merits of this claim as regards other industries, it did not hold true in 1939 in the U.S.A. in the logging, sawmill, and planing-mill establishments surveyed. Logging establishments with 100 or more employees had higher injury frequency rates than did the smaller establishments. In fact, the smallest establishments, with 1 to 24 employees, had the lowest rate, 8.55. The group with 50 to 99 employees had the second lowest rate, 9.66, and each of the other groups had frequency rates above 10. In sawmills, too, the largest plants had the highest frequency rates. Mills with 200 to 399 workers had a rate of 5.53, and those with 400 or more workers a rate of 5.46. There was little variation in the frequency rate for smaller-size establishments, although within these the rate of 4.65 for the smallest-size group was somewhat higher than those of the other groups. Only in planing mills did the largest-size group, i.e., with 400 or more employees, have the lowest frequency rate. Its rate of 2.94, however, was only slightly lower than that of any of the other size groups. As a whole, there was little difference between the frequency rates of small-, medium-, and large-size establishments. Causes and Prevention of Accidents in Lumber Manufacture, United States Department of Labor, 1939. In course of preparation A SERIES OF 26 SLOGANS attractively printed in 2 colours for insertion in pay-envelopes SAMPLES WILL BE SENT TO ALL READERS 36 VOLUME NINE—NUMBER NINETY-SEVEN UNUSUAL ACCIDENTS Means of Access—Three men were at work on pipe repairs at or near a 3 ft. 6 in. overhead blast-furnace gas main. A heavy cover plate on an auxiliary line had to have a joint broken at each end, prior to blanking. In the course of the job the elbow swung over and trapped one of the men near the knee against an upright. He may also simultaneously—though this is not certain—have got a mouthful of carbon monoxide, not by direct transmission through the main, for this had been thoroughly well sealed and blown out, but released after occlusion in mains dust. Either way, whether from pain or from gas, he became unconscious, up aloft on a 9 in. plank, with only most convenient access. His two fellow workers faced with the task, which they put through efficiently, of manoeuvring him up on the pipe line, getting him 60 ft. along it, without any hand-rail to help, and lowering him in a sling waistcoat. The man made a good recovery. He had had a narrow escape and owes much to his mates. Section 26 of the Factories Act requires that there shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be provided and maintained safe means of access to every place at which any person has at any time to work. This requirement is sometimes misread. It does not ask for safe access only to places where a routine operation is carried on as part of a manufacturing process normally conducted. It goes much further, and should be taken quite definitely to include a case—on temporary repair jobs. Sepsis—The following account may be useful for propaganda purposes. A labourer was stacking scaffold boards and got a splinter in his thumb. Although there was a first aid box on the job he proceeded to extract the splinter himself with his pocket-knife. This rather crude treatment was followed by periodical thumb-sucking. Two days later there was acute inflammation of both hand and forearm so the man went to hospital. His general health had by then been badly affected and the inflammation spread to his other arm. Septicæmia set in and he died two days later; in other words, within four days of his trying to perform a minor operation with a pocket-knife. Temporary apparatus leaves insufficient clearance—In gas works, as in other places, modification of some operations became necessary at the beginning of the war because of the Defence Regulations, e.g., coke quenching, normally done in the open, had to be done under cover at night. In one works a simple and temporary quencher had been constructed for use in the retort house during the night. Its sides consisted of two steel sheets which gave a clearance of only about 7 inches between the sheets and the cabin of the travelling hot-coke "skip." The "skip" ran on rails along the retort house and was electrically driven at a walking pace. A man was told to transfer loose carbon from a row of retorts to the "skip," and when he was traversing from one retort to another, he apparently leaned rather too far out, but for what purpose is not known, and was trapped against the quencher plates and fatally injured. After the accident it was admitted that the quencher could have been constructed so as to afford a clearance of about 3 feet. Two reasons were suggested why these particular plates had been used on the quencher; they were available at the time when materials were not readily come by, and they may have been used to afford more protection from sparks. The construction of temporary apparatus demands as much thought and care as that for permanent use. A typical result of its not getting such attention is shown in this case. Explosion while burning out pipes—Some old 3-inch pipe had been removed from a spray painting shop. This pipe had originally been used for conveying paint to the spray guns but had got clogged up with solid paint. When the pipes were removed from the paint shop they had been put on the scrap heap, from which they were reclaimed for use as supports in another job. Welders were told to weld and hammer into lugs the ends of 7-foot lengths. It was found, however, that the welding operation could not be carried out owing to the cellulose deposit inside. It was then decided to burn out the encrusted paint by gradually working a flame up the pipe. The work was being carried out by an apprentice welder and a man. They had already burnt out 50 lengths when the man was called away to a breakdown in another part of the works. He left the lad to complete the work, after giving him strict instructions that the pipe end must be kept open to allow the fumes to get away. The lad had just finished burning the corner of a U-shaped piece, when an explosion, due to a blockage in the bend, threw the work upwards into his face. His injuries included loss of front teeth and damage to the roof of his mouth. Judging by the degree of burn detected on the surface of the pipe after the explosion, the accident arose out of the exact condition which the lad had been warned to prevent. After the accident it was decided to immerse the pipes in hot caustic soda and remove the solid matter in this way. Borrowed Gloves—A workman, burning off rivets with an acetylene blow-pipe, used the gloves of a fellow worker who had been handling paraffin. Although the gloves did not burst into flame, the heating of the paraffin caused severe blistering and first-degree chemical burns. Flawed Coupling—A coupling, connecting a driving shaft to the spindle of a paper-winding drum on which was 2 tons of paper, suddenly broke, with the result that the drum caught a workman and inflicted fatal injuries. When the parts of the coupling were examined an internal flaw was found in the casting. The coupling had been in constant use for four years, and had been examined every week. A defect such as this might have been discovered had the casting been examined by one of the modern magnetic or other methods. BENZENE (BENZOL) POISONING The following notes are taken, with a few verbal and other amendments to conform with usage in this country, from 'Benzol Poisoning' published by the Division of Industrial Hygiene, Department of Pensions and National Health, Ottawa. Benzene is obtained by distillation of coal tar and by recovery from coke oven gas, illuminating gas, or crude petroleum of certain types as well as from cracking of crude petroleum. It must not be confused with benzine, which is a fraction of crude petroleum, and which does not possess the strongly poisonous properties of benzene. The name of benzol or benzole is applied generally to commercial benzene, but occasionally to benzine. This confusion of names imposes on users the need for particular care, as the highly dangerous solvent may be obtained in error. Pure benzene is a colourless liquid with a characteristic agreeable odour. It boils at 80°C. (176°F). Commercial benzene, generally called benzol, is a product containing approximately 90 per cent. pure benzene. Both evaporate readily when exposed to the air, and give off a vapour which is three times as heavy as air, and which, therefore, may collect at floor level. Benzene is highly inflammable, and its vapour forms an explosive mixture with air. Continued overleaf 37 | ||