H—ll

(iv) A 6 ft. high stack of wallboard with its base approximately 5 in. above floor-level slipped off a pallet truck and crushed an employee against a wall. He sustained fatal injuries. (v) An engine-driver in a flour-mill turned on a steam-drifter valve and left the boiler-house. When he returned the house was full of steam and scalding water lay on the floor to a depth of 3 in. In endeavouring to reach the shut-off valve, he slipped and fell into the water, receiving fatal scalds. (vi) An employee received fatal burns from the combustion of cleaning fluid in a degreasing cabinet. Although the precise cause was unknown there were several factors any of which may have been responsible—viz., static electricity or sparks from a nearby grinder, faulty electrical switches, or employees smoking. (vii) A night-shift employee, in a veneer factory was fatally scalded when he slipped into a logboiling pot from which the lid had been removed during the day for the carrying out of repairs and had not been replaced. (viii) A flour-mill employee was asphyxiated as a result of being crushed between a railway-truck and the side of a narrow doorway through which the rails passed. He was taking a " short cut " back to his work place. (ix) A worker operating a wool-blending machine in a scouring works switched off the power and opened the inspection door in order to eliminate an internal wool jam. Unfortunately, however, he did not wait for the rotating drum to cease moving before thrusting his hand inside. The result was that he received two small skin abrasions from the teeth of the drum and, as was later ascertained by x-ray, a fracture of two small bones in the hand. First-aid treatment was rendered at the factory. However, tetanus infection developed and the worker died within seven days. (6) Serious Factory Accidents.—The following is a selection of some of the characteristic accidents of a more serious nature which occurred during the year 1949 : (i) A female operator on a cuff-turning machine failed to withdraw her hands before actuating the press. As a result her hands were bruised and painfully burned. It was not possible to release the hands until the machine had been partially dismantled. Modification of the machine enabling it to be reversed, also installation of a release fitting involving the use of both hands would have prevented this accident. (ii) A female employee suffered scalp injuries when her hair became entangled in a drilling-machine. The wearing of a suitable cap or net would have eliminated this risk. (iii) A plumber engaged in fitting a dust-extractor to a circular saw endeavoured to adjust the dust-container beneath the bench while the saw was in motion. His hand slipped into contact with the saw and was severed. No adjustment should have been attempted while the machine was in motion. (iv) A garage-proprietor suffered a fractured skull as a result of the explosion of an empty steel drum which he was cutting with an acetylene torch. The drum had been empty for twelve months. Care should be taken to thoroughly eliminate any residue of explosive substances before commencing such operations. (v) An employee slipped while endeavouring to oil a lime-hydrating machine in motion. His arm became caught in the driving-cogs and amputation was necessary. The cogs should have been guarded. Further, no attempt should have been made to oil the machine while in motion. (vi) A truck-driver suffered severe back injuries and severe lacerations when, in attempting to clear a feed blockage in an elevated sawdust-hopper at a sawmill, his coat caught in the nearby belt and shafting. Adequate guarding would have prevented the accident. (vii) An employee reached under the guard of a cotton-teasing machine whilst it was in motion, in an endeavour to free a blockage. He lost all the fingers and thumb of his hand. Here again, no attempt should have been made to clear the machine while in motion. (viii) A breast-bench sawyer at a sawmill was feeding a short length of board into a saw. He fed it in, however, at a slight angle. As the friction of the board against the gauge fence increased, his hand slipped and was very severely cut. More care in feeding and use of a push-stick would have prevented the accident. (ix) The guard of a shaping-machine had been placed in the non-use position. When the machine was started, however, the guard fell down, contacted the revolving spindle, and a piece of flying metal lodged in and necessitated the removal of the operative's eye. The guard had apparently not been pushed sufficiently far back. However, had the guard been sufficiently rigid it would have fallen into place correctly and not contacted the spindle. Poorly-constructed guards can be more dangerous than no guard. (x) A youth's leg was broken, requiring amputation, when a rope used as a sling in lifting a heavy machine parted. Old or worn rope should not be used for lifting heavy objects. (/) Overtime Work in Factories (1) The following table of overtime authorized beyond the statutory limits compares each year from 1943. (Note. —Prior to the Factories Act, 1946, boys and

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