TABLE 2.-NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES FOR WAGE EARNERS IN SPECIFIED INDUSTRIES, 1926 TO 1932-Continued TABLE 2.-NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES FOR WAGE EARNERS IN SPECIFIED INDUSTRIES, 1926 TO 1932-Continued 6 of су Se- Num- Fre- Se- Num- Fre- Se- Num- Fre- Seber quen- veri- ber quen- veri- ber quen- veri- ber of of су of су 1,381 20. 1932. Shipbuilding, steel: 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930. 1931 1932 Slaughtering meat packing: 1926 1927 1928. 1929 1930. 1931 1932 Steam fittings, apparatus, and supplies: 1926. 1927 1928. 1929 1930. 1931 1932. 6242323 .32 1.93 .42 .62 .04 .62 .13 2 ཙ3 .52 233 10 .17 25 All groups: 1926 193 The survey covered 29 manufacturing groups up to 1929, when separate figures became available for logging operations, which were previously included in the classification "lumber-logging." A new classification, "logging", was therefore added in 1929, making 30 groups in all. The separation is very noticeable in the accident rates for sawmills, which dropped sharply in 1929 through the elimination of the more hazardous logging operations. Eleven of the 30 industrial groups followed the combined trend and experienced increases in both frequency and severity rates in 1932 es compared with 1931. Two other industries experienced increases in frequency rates but decreases in severity rates, while eight other industries experienced decreases in both rates. In frequency rates the increases ranged from 0.12 for boots and shoes to 25.3 for logging, and the decreases ranged from 0.22 for steam fittings, apparatus, and supplies to 10.78 for shipbuilding. In severity rates the increases ranged from 0.05 for boots and shoes to 8.26 for logging, and the decreases ranged from 0.16 for carpets and rugs and for shipbuilding to 0.95 for brick, tile, and terra cotta. Eighteen of the 30 industries present frequency rates higher than the average (18.59), with logging showing the worst experience (107.94) and sawmills next (54.35). Logging also shows the worst experience in severity rates (32.40) and sawmills is second there likewise (6.81). Sixteen other industries also show severity rates exceeding the average (2.39). Accident Experience of American Steam Railways, 1932 CCORDING to a summary and analysis of railway accidents, published by the Bureau of Statistics of the Interstate Commerce Commission, for the calendar year 1932, 4.19 persons were killed and 15.89 were injured per 1,000,000 locomotive-miles in train and trainservice accidents on steam railways in the United States during 1932, as compared with 3.71 persons killed and 15.32 injured during 1931. Train accidents were responsible for 183 deaths and 997 nonfatal injuries, including 63 deaths and 326 nonfatal injuries to employees on duty. Train-service accidents accounted for 4,341 deaths and 16,160 nonfatal injuries, of which 367 deaths and 6,861 nonfatal injuries were sustained by employees on duty. Nontrain (including industrial) accidents resulted in 223 deaths and 12,062 nonfatal injuries, of which 127 deaths and 10,227 nonfatal injuries occurred to employees on duty. Nonfatal injuries to employees include only those causing disability of more than 3 days. The total number of deaths in all types of accidents was 4,747 in 1932, as against 5,099 in 1931, a decrease of 6.9 percent. The total number of nonfatal injuries in all types of accidents was 29,219 in 1932, as against 35,656 in 1931, a decrease of 18.05 percent. Locomotive-miles dropped from 1,308,807,762 in 1931 to 1,079,670,099 in 1932, a decrease of 17.51 percent, a larger decline than shown for fatalities but smaller than shown for nonfatal injuries. The number of employees killed while on duty in either train, trainservice, or nontrain accidents declined from 488 in 1931 to 430 in 1932, or 11.89 percent, while the number injured declined from 9,433 in 1931 to 7,187 in 1932, a decrease of 23.81 percent. Man-hours for all employees are not available, but man-hours for class I roads dropped from 2,930,657,000 in 1931 to 2,286,561,000 in 1932, a decrease of 21.98 percent. Part of the summary, showing the total number of persons and the number of employees on duty killed and injured in 1931 and 1932, by type of accident and cause, is shown in the following table. PERSONS KILLED AND INJURED IN STEAM-RAILWAY ACCIDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1931 AND 1932 STAT Coal-Mine Accidents in the United States, 1931 TATISTICS of accidents occurring in coal mines during 1931, published by the United States Bureau of Mines in its Bulletin No. 373,' shows that injuries during the year, totaling 81,812, resulted in 1,463 fatalities, 98 permanent total disabilities, 1,773 permanent partial disabilities, and 78,478 temporary disabilities. Progress was made in accident prevention, in spite of the adverse conditions created through heavy curtailment of operations in the industry. The number of workers declined from 644,006 in 1930 to 589,705 in 1931, a reduction of 8.43 percent. The average days of operation also declined from 192 in 1930 to 168 in 1931, a reduction of 12.5 percent, resulting in a decrease in the total number of man-hours worked from 1,002,691,781 in 1930 to 804,394,130 in 1931, a reduction. 1 United States. Department of Commerce. Bureau of Mines. Bulletin 373: Coal-mine accidents in the United States, 1931, by W. W. Adams, L. E. Geyer, and L. Chenoweth. Washington, 1933. of 19.78 percent. The number of deaths declined from 2,063 in 1930 to 1,463 in 1931, a reduction of 29.08 percent, so that the fatality rate per million man-hours worked was lowered from 2.06 in 1930 to 1.82 in 1931, a decrease of 11.65 percent. The nonfatal-injury rate was also reduced, but in less degree-from 103.54 in 1930 to 99.89 in 1931, a decrease of 3.53 percent. While 1,080 of the 1,463 fatalities occurred in bituminous-coal mines, 4,914 of the total bituminous-coal mines operated the entire year without a fatal accident, although they employed 60.9 percent of the workers and produced 53.6 percent of all bituminous tonnage. A distribution by States shows that the coal mines in Alaska and Michigan were operated without loss of life during the year, while the highest fatality rate was established by Indiana (3.71 per 1,000,000 man-hours worked). Alaska presented the lowest nonfatal-injury rate (28.19), and Utah the highest (153.10). The only figures available for nonfatal injuries are for the years 1930 and 1931, but data for fatalities are published beginning with 1911,2 as presented in table 1, which shows the number of workers employed, the number of man-hours worked, production, and the number of workers killed, by 5-year periods from 1911 to 1930 and by years from 1926 to 1931. TABLE 1.--EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTION, AND FATALITIES IN COAL MINES, 1911 TO There were 1,355 fatal and 73,312 nonfatal injuries in underground operations in 1931, 78 fatal and 5,850 nonfatal injuries in surface operations, and 30 fatal and 1,187 nonfatal injuries in shaft and opencut operations. Falls of roof or face accounted for 836 of the underground deaths and 21,733 of the underground nonfatal injuries. The next principal cause of underground injuries was mine cars and locomotives, responsible for 237 deaths and 15,437 nonfatal injuries. Fatality rates for bituminous-coal mines and anthracite mines are shown in table 2, which contains rates for each type and both types combined, by years from 1925 to 1931.* 2 For earlier data see Monthly Labor Review for December 1932, pp. 1338-1339. |