H.—ls.

Improvements in new lifts installed during the year relate mainly to operating-devices. A full automatic passenger-lift recently erected in an office building in Wellington is provided with mechanism for the automatic opening and closing of car and landing doors. The pressing of a hall button will open the landing-door provided the lift car is at that landing. If not at the landing the doors will open simultaneously with the arrival and stopping of the car at the landing. On entering the car the passenger presses the button corresponding with his intended destination and both car and landing doors close automatically before the car leaves the landing. Exhaustive tests were carried out by the Department's staff to prove the safety of these devices before the lift was certificated. The modern lift is a highly developed machine, both mechanically and electrically, but, as a rule, new lifts are sound in construction and well appointed with safety-devices, and no great difficulty is "experienced in obtaining full compliance with the Department's requirements relating to new lifts. However, in the case of existing lifts, the matter of the application of modern standards of safety is a little more difficult. Many lifts are very old, and the safety equipment, considered adequate at the time of installation, now falls short of present-day requirements. A great amount of work has been carried out during the past two years in improving the standard of safety of the existing lift. Attention has been given to the construction of doors guarding openings to lift-wells, to door-locks, and to interlocking devices, both mechanical and electrical, which ensure that a well-door will remain locked and cannot be opened when the lift car is away from the landing. In all cases of goods-attendant lifts where the attendant must travel with the load, gates interlocked with the controls have been fitted to the cars. Accidents reported in connection with machinery inspected by the Department numbered 129, of which 3 were fatal accidents and 126 non-fatal. The corresponding figures for the previous year were 8 fatal and 129 non-fatal accidents. The total number of boilers and machines of all classes inspected during the year is 93,697 and the ratio of the number of accidents to the number of boilers and machines is Ito 726. The ratio for the previous year ended 31st March, 1937, was Ito 659. In each case the circumstances of the accidents, including all contributing factors and the safeguards and the condition of the machine, were fully investigated, and, where practicable, improvements to the machine or to the safeguards were effected to prevent a repetition of similar accidents. The fatalities were connected with a circular saw, a scutching-machine, and a log-hauling winch. The following gives a brief account of each fatal accident compiled from the reports, and also briefly describes the cause and the steps taken to ensure that the worker is protected from a similar occurrence (1) Severe injuries to one side and one arm were the cause of death of a workman employed in a sawmill near Christchurch. On 13th July, 1937, the deceased was sitting on the breast bench of a circular saw engaged in sharpening the saw in place. Due to a misunderstanding, the driving-motor for the machine was started by a fellow-employee, with the result that the saw inflicted severe injuries, from which he subsequently died. The saw is independently driven by an electric motor, which was controlled by a starter located approximately 30 ft. from the saw-bench. An efficient stopping and starting device has since been installed in such a position that the driving-motor can be readily and conveniently started and stopped by the person operating the saw. (2) On the 18th October, 1937, during the trial under working-conditions, and before inspection by Department, of a scutching-machine installed in a fiaxmill in Canterbury, the owner, who was observing the performance of the machine, received fatal injuries consequent upon the bursting of a part of the machinery. Upon examination of the machine subsequent to the accident it was found that the cast-iron disc which carries the beater-arms had fractured, allowing the beater-frame to come into violent contact with the outer wood casing of the machine. The deceased, who was standing in close proximity to the machine, was injured bv the fivins timbers. J 6 There was evidence that the fracture of the boss was due to the key having been driven in too tightly during the course of the re-erection of the scutching-machine. The position of the fracture was such that it could only be observed during the assembly, which, it was stated, was carried out by the deceased. In view of the high speed at which the' machine is operated, 300 revolutions per minute being the speed when the accident occurred, every care should have been taken to closely inspect each part ol the machine during erection and better judgment and skill employed when fitting the key. In order to prevent a recurrence of this accident the discs have been replaced with others of stronger design. (3) The third fatal accident of the year occurred at a sawmill located in the Greymouth District. On 14th October, 1937, a workman whose duty it was to operate a winch used for log-hauling was drawn into the winch-hauling drum. There were no witnesses to the accident, but the deceased apparently kicked the wire rope, which was probably riding, and was caught between the rope and the drum. The injuries sustained were such that death occurred almost instantaneously. The winch, which is driven by an oil-engine through clutch gears, is of the usual design used for such purposes. It is guarded as far as it is possible to do so, and the clutch-control placed in a convenient position to the operator. The wire hauling-rope was carefully examined after the accident, and it was found to be unsplintered and sound in all respects. An accident of this type resulting from dangerous practices is very difficult to prevent.

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