The foundry, viewing it from all angles, presents one of the greatest
problems in the industrial world. The fact that the production of
castings depends not only on a mechanical process, but also on a
chemical process, makes it specially difficult to fasten upon any
individual the responsibility for imperfect work. And yet there is
a definite (even though unassignable) reason for the loss of every
defective casting produced,--some one member of the department failed
in properly performing his part of the work. Every man must therefore
be taught to appreciate the importance of his own particular task,
and must be impressed with the necessity of performing that task
conscientiously, and as correctly and efficiently as he can. There
should be a spirit of cooperation as earnest and sincere as that which
prevails in a beehive, where every worker performs the task of the
moment with singleness of purpose, and with no thought or motive other
than the production of the best final result, from the united labors of
all. The development of a point of view of this nature among the men
will also have a profound effect in the way of reducing accidents,--a
greater effect, in fact, than could be realized by any other single
means.
One of the problems that must receive special consideration in
connection with accident-prevention work in foundries relates to the
class of persons employed. It is not necessary to employ skilled
labor for all the operations in the foundry, and for that reason
a certain portion of the work is intrusted to unskilled help,--to
men, namely, who do not understand the necessity for safety methods.
The most practical and effective way of dealing with a situation
of this kind is to adopt the team-work idea--that is, to teach
cooperation--and to introduce a well-organized safety department
that will educate the men to the extent of developing in them sound
and correct accident-prevention ideals. Useful practical suggestions
for accomplishing this, and for making the accident-prevention work
effective, are given in a booklet entitled “_Organization in Safety
Work_”, which is published by the Engineering and Inspection Division
of THE TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY.
Even the best-equipped, most orderly, and most effectively organized
foundry is not free from accidents, and it is too much to expect
that complete immunity will ever be possible. The experience of many
concerns that have adopted safety methods in their foundries shows,
however, that it is possible to eliminate a large proportion of the
commoner causes of accidents, without much expense and without any
serious disturbance of existing conditions. The Engineering and
Inspection Division of THE TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY, in the course
of its extensive experience with foundries, has given a great deal of
study to this subject, and the recommendations and suggestions that it
has made in the course of its practical inspection work have been well
received by foundry managers, and have been particularly effective in
bringing about better and safer conditions. The present booklet, based
upon this study and experience, contains some of the suggestions that
have been found to be most serviceable and important in dealing with
the accident-prevention problem in its broader phases. Every foundry
has important special safety problems of its own, which must be dealt
with effectively if the best results are to be obtained; but to include
all features of this kind would swell this booklet to such dimensions
that its effectiveness and usefulness would be impaired. We have
therefore confined our attention to danger-points of wide and almost
universal occurrence.
There are few machines in foundries in comparison with the number in
industrial plants of many other kinds. The machines that are used,
however, must be provided with guards at all points where accidents
might occur, and the necessary special guards have been described
in more or less detail in the following pages. The construction and
arrangement of the various forms of guards for belts and pulleys are
not fully explained, but it should be understood that these are to
comply with the standards approved by the Industrial Compensation
Rating Bureau. The Engineering and Inspection Division of THE TRAVELERS
INSURANCE COMPANY will furnish upon request, copies of an illustrated
pamphlet entitled “_Industrial Standards_,” which clearly explains the
requirements of the Bureau.
In the main, the present booklet deals with iron foundries; but we have
also included certain special hazards that are encountered chiefly in
foundries where other metals are cast.
THE TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY,
Hartford, Connecticut.