“WASTE NOT, WANT NOT"

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 5 August 1931, Page 7

“WASTE NOT, WANT NOT"

ADVICE TO RAILWAYMEN APPLICABLE TO ALL “Those homely proverbs, ‘Waste not, want not,’ and ‘Wilful waste makes woeful want,’ demand everybody s best attention in these days of stress. Stoppage of waste makes for security of employment and family welfare,’ says the personal message of the General Manager of (ho New Zealand Railways in (lie Department's magazine. “When you flunk of waste, think in terms of lho multiplication table. An average waste of only a. penny a day for each employee of the railways would amount to £22,000 a year. A REAL ENEMY

“Waste is always a hindrance to individual and national welfare, but under .present conditions it is a deadly enemy against which the most determined war must be waged. Waste does no one any good and gives no worthy person any pleasure. Stopping waste lias the same effect as getting more business, and it lias the advantage that it costs nothing except thought and care, and can be practised successfully at times when new business is hard to get and possibly expensive to handle. In this personal messago to each member of (lie railway staff 1 desire to enlist llio' interest and help of each individual among our 17,500 members in a campaign for the elimination of waste and for studied economy in the use of all kinds of stores and supplies. It- should ■be obvious to all that the- instinct of self-preservation must command their active support of this principle. WASTE AND WAGES “Launched, as we are, on a much more real business basis than ever before, self-interest and self-help are very definitely involved for all in a- drive for •waste-elimination within the Department. Mere than ever before will wc bo judged by results, and as departmental earnings have to pay for the cost of materials and supplies wasted as well as the cost of materials and supplies used, before salaries or wages can be met or properly apportioned, tho ultimate effect of waste in all its forms on rates of remuneration for personal services is a very vital factor. If the cost of careless waste in an individual case automatically reduced wages by tho amount wasted, this truth would become impressively clear. “A leaking tap, dripping at the rate of a pint a- minute, wastes 500 Q gallons in a four-weekly period, or 65,000 gallons in a year. Effort to turn off a tap costs nothing, and if a tap is defective it costs nothing to report tho matter. If there is an average of only one such leaking tap at each of 300 stations, workshops, goods-sheds, or other railway centres, then the waste from this cause alone is 19,500,000 gallons. Much water in New Zealand is sold at Is per 1000 gallons (in some.places it costs more),: so that, on this basis and at I lie rale mentioned, leakage of water throughout the system may cause water waste to the value of £IOOO per annum. But 300 penny washers to stop such waste cost only 255. LIGHT AND HEATING “The cost of electricity used in a 100-watt light in Wellington is one) third of a penny per hour. One of tho large flood-lights in shunting yard's icosts 4id per hour. , A one-kilowatt electric heater, or a six-element gas heater, costs from 2d to 3d per hour. A gas-ring costs 2' 2 <\ per hour. i “The above are approximate costs, and 1 quote them to show tho money value, in relation to lime, of some of those things which are liable to misuse through want of care or neglect to check. The total number of electric bulbs and g;is heating and lighting elements -employed throughout New Zealand railways approximates 25,000. An average of one hour’s waste per day for each, of them, or the cutting down of their use by one hour per day, would mean, at the low average of jd per hour, 6s 3d for each per year, or a Dominion total for the Department of £15,000 in Iho whole bill of costs. This excludes tlie additional cost for replacement of bulbs because of unnecessary use. SAVING STORES “During the year ended 31st March 1931, the Department spent the following sums:— £ On general stores 1,636,664 On coal and coke 669,785 On stationery 38,789 Total £2,345.239 “This is equivalent fo 48 per cent, of tho total wages bill. In the uso and conservation of stores of all kinds watchfulness and initiative should make a substantial decrease in the total cost. Even a, 1-pcr-eent. saving on the use of supplies means £23,000 per annum. “In addition lo stopping vaasle of stores and supplies, every wage-earner can do something appreciable towards economy in preventing breakages., pilferage, and the damage to goods. Finally, in making this appeal, 1 would point out that it is not a matter of pleasing tho management that comes into question—every employee is a manager within the province of his own job—hut that it is a matter of vital personal moment to each at this critical stage in the Department’s development. The less the waste the stronger becomes tho financial position of the railways and (he heller become the prospects of employees.”