cure the facts necessary for a practical consideration of the problem.

The Problem of Industrial Accidents.-With the above facts before us we are in a position to define clearly the problem involved in industrial accidents. We must find methods of eliminating them or of making their consequences less burdensome, always remembering that any social cost is justified which results in a net social saving. A consideration of these methods will occupy the following chapters.

References at end of Chapter III.

CHAPTER II

THE PREVENTION OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

The most logical method of eliminating the suffering and economic loss due to industrial accidents is to prevent their occurrence; with the removal of the cause the effect will disappear. But the complete elimination of industrial accidents seems to be impossible if industry is to continue with human beings as a factor in production. Accidents must be divided into two classes, the preventable and the unpreventable, and every reasonable effort should be made to anticipate and eliminate those in the first class. The burden of those which remain should be lightened in so far as possible and should be justly distributed among the responsible parties.

The achievement of industrial safety through prevention of accidents, while not a new, idea, has been the subject of active endeavor only during the last decade; in fact, with the greater part of our industrial population, safety work is a development of the last two or three years. In the past, lack of accurate knowledge, currency of individualistic ideals, and generally wasteful methods of production have precluded attention to the problem. Industrial accidents have been regarded as an unfortunate but not particularly important incident of modern' production. Now, with

the growth of the conservation idea, the development of a knowledge of consequences through statistical studies, and direct financial pressure on employers through laws compelling the payment of compensation to workmen, we find rapidly increasing and effective interest in the subject.

Agencies of Accident Prevention.-The State should be the primary force in the prevention of accidents since it represents all classes and is in a position to exercise compulsion. That our governments have been far behind Europe in safety activity has been due largely to ignorance of the possibilities of such work and to absence of the demand for it because of our less highly concentrated population. One of the first examples of state interference in the cause of safety is the Safety Appliance Law passed by the Federal Government in 1893, aimed specifically at accidents due to the dangerous methods of coupling cars then in vogue on interstate railroads. This law has since been considerably extended to cover a wider range of railroad work. The individual states have passed, from time to time, laws for the elimination of specific unsafe practices and for the general improvement of conditions in dangerous trades, but their enforcement has usually been lax and productive of little good.

As a result, however, of steadily growing interest during the last six or seven years legislatures, backed by public demand, are enacting more effective statutes, in some cases independent of a Workmen's Compensation Act, but more often supplementary thereto. The most important feature of these later enactments has been the creation of expert commissions for the

collection of information and the enforcement of the law. These commissions are usually empowered to make inspections and require the installation of safety devices, and make annual reports of the progress of their work. More significant still is the educational work which they are carrying on through the publication of pamphlets, the promulgation of safety standards, public exhibitions and lectures, safety museums and libraries, and conferences with individual employers.

The latest development of the governmental program is the adoption of safety as a subject of instruction in the public schools. New Jersey passed a law in 1913 requiring courses to be installed and other states are becoming interested in this branch of the work. Capably administered, this should be an effective method of reducing accidents. Its idea is to make accident prevention a part of the every-day consciousness of the population and the accomplishment of this end is of fundamental importance.

Employers, after years of ignorance and apathy, are fast becoming awakened to the humanitarian and financial gains arising from accident prevention and are expending an immense amount of thought and money to decrease the accident hazard in their plants. The United States Steel Corporation was a pioneer in safety work and has developed its organization and methods to a very high pitch of efficiency. Leading corporations in other lines have also made great advances in the direction of industrial safety and it is only a question of time before every corporation of any size will recognize accident prevention as one of

the most important phases of its activity. Manufacturers of machinery are responding to the demand, and dangerous machines are now carrying guards as regular equipment.1 The manufacture of safety devices is becoming an independent industry and inventors are constantly working on new ideas for more efficient protection.

One of the greatest aids to the employer in the solution of safety problems is the insurance company. These companies, on the payment of a stipulated premium, assume the liability of the employer to pay damages or compensation to his employees on account of accidents, and one of their chief inducements is the offer of expert advice on safety work whereby the employer may not only reduce his accidents but may also secure substantial reductions in the rate of premium. Competition in this service has developed inspection departments which are of very real economic value. In addition to personal inspection and advice, pamphlets dealing with safety are published, warning signs are furnished, and some companies issue small volumes which are practically text-books of accident prevention.

Two coöperative enterprises for improving safety conditions merit especial mention: the American Museum of Safety and the National Safety Council. These organizations are supported by membership fees and contributions of industrial corporations and public-minded associations and individuals.

1One industrial corporation makes a practice, whenever a machine comes to them insufficiently protected, of adding the necessary guards and deducting the cost from the bill for the machine.