THE CASUALTIES OF BRITISH INDUSTRY

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1666, 3 February 1904, Page 43 (Supplement)

THE CASUALTIES OF BRITISH INDUSTRY

Mr W. J. Gordon writes in the “Leisure Hour” on the killed and wounded in industry. He reports that the numbers for 1901 in the United Kingdom were 4627 killed and 107,290 wounded; 1524 of the deaths were on board British

merchant vessels, leaving 3103 for the home record. Of thcfee 1229 died in mines and quarries, 565 in railways, and 769 in factories. The death-rate for factories was one in 5000 pez*sons employed, in metal mines 4.6 in 5000, in coal mines 6.8. Accidents work out at 18 per thousand in factories. As many are killed in coal mining as in 1851, but there are four times as many coal miners; so the danger is reduced to onefourth. One inspector reports that

“eliminating purely accidental injuries, the most prolific cause is the carelessness of the worker; next in order comes the remissness of the machine-maker; and lastly, failure on the part of occupiers to provide guards.” It is suggestive to compare Mr Gordon’s figures with thosu of the War Commission. Killed in action during the whole South African War, 5774 Killed in British industry in 1901, 4627.