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October, 1915 investigations are made or _ instructions issued in order to prevent further acci- dents of a similar character. No safety bulletins are issued to masters of ships, as we do not feel they require then, but safety bulletins in regard to personal in- juries, as furnished by our casualty companies, are duly circulated among our employes. “Meetings are not held between the navigating and engineer officers of our fleet to discuss matters of safety, as their active employment prevents such eeneral meetings, but our masters have arrangements for keeping each other advised of any matters of interest, and of course they are furnished with all government publications in regard to obstructions to navigation, etc. The wireless is also employed by our masters to keep each other informed as_ to weather conditions along the coast, and obstructions they might meet with. “T might say in conclusion that we are doing everything we possibly can in order to prevent accidents of’ every description, as they are very costly, and the less accidents the greater commercial success we attain. We find a great many suggestions are made and we are offered all kinds of devices for the pre- vention of accidents, but our experience is that many of them are utterly im- practicable, especially in the coastwise business. The kind of business carried necessitates a certain type of ship. which places limitations on the devices that may be used. I might say that our experience in regard to accidents is that they are not caused so much by the lack of mechanical appliances as. by failure of the human element.” “Our Men Grow Up In Our Employ” Another eastern writes as follows: “We have no special safety organiza- tion other than personal supervision, keeping in close touch with the operat- ing officers of our steamers, treating them with every human courtesy and making them feel their personal respon- sibility. In fact we try to make our interest their interest. We employ no one that uses spirituous liquor. It is very unusual that we are compelled to take on outside men; most all our men grow up in the employ of the company -and are promoted from deck hands and firemen to become engineers and cap- tains. In our judgment the most prac- tical way to reduce the number of acci- dents is to have efficiency in the operat- ing department of the steamer, with perfect confidence, personal contact and co-operation between the employe and management. This is far better than a lot of drastic and fool laws, engineered by men that have no_ knowledge or ex- perience in the operation of vessel prop- erty and are moved entirely by senti- -mental or personal or political motives. The president of small company oper- ating on the Great Lakes advises : “As our fleet is small, consisting of only three boats, we do not 8 2 safety department or employ a_ safety director, but hold frequent conferences with the officers of our boats and pire very frequent personal inspections, te in that way we aim to keep the oie crews impressed with the idea tha safety first: is the important thing to consider. We instruct our employes both on land and on shore to pay Par- feular attention to avoiding danger steamship company THE MARINE REVIEW and wherever safety precautions can be taken we are only too glad to do any- es that can be suggested toward that ends: ‘Safety First on the River The head of another small fleet navi- gating the Ohio and Green rivers con- tributes the following remarks: “We keep a record of accidents. These records are studied, the causes of the casualties are analyzed, and_ instruc- tions are given to the © superin- tendent and to the officers of the boats that are calculated in our best judgment to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents. Our superintendent and the masters of our steamers are under instructions to hold periodically what might be termed ‘Officer’s Schools’ for the instruction and examination of the officers and members of the crews in all details of their stations and their duties in the event of accidents.” The following was received from the head of a steamship company operating on one of the rivers of the south: “IT give this feature (safety) my per- sonal attention, at all times warning the officers against carelessness and of the necessity for being sure regardless of time. Time lost in being careful is well spent. My observation is that more ac- cidents are caused by drunkenness of the officers and crew of the boat than any thing else. We are very careful not to employ a man that will drink while on board, nor will we allow an officer to leave port on one of our boats who shows signs of having been drinking, be- lieving that he would. not be safe to navigate, or handle machinery in that condition.” Regarding the importance of the per- sonal element, the general manager of a large company on the Great Lakes . states : “For ourselves, we have always felt that the personnel of our steamer crews is perhaps the first and foremost factor of safety, for no matter how good a ship or how extensive her life saving equipment, a mistake on the part of the mariners or engineers might be fatal. I think. we are particularly fortunate in this regard, as every one of our chief officers in every department has grown up in our service, and is familiar by personal contact.with the management's desires, and so at all times and under all circumstances makes safety the first and foremost consideration. The chief officers of each steamer hold weekly meetings on board of their respective ships. At these meetings they discuss safety measures, the sanitary condition of the ship and general discipline. These reports are written out and exchanged between ships, so that each ship can see what the other ships are doing in this direction. We, of course, keep a record of all accidents, however slight, and try to profit by such experiences.” An official of a large Mississippi river line writes in part as follows: “Not only are our steamers inspected by the U. S. local inspectors, but there is not a trip that one of the owners does not go aboard each vessel and note its condition. Should he find any defects, their existence 1s immediately called to the attention of the officer in charge. In this way we have obtained splendid results, and we sincerely trust 361 that it will be a long time before an accident of any kind befalls one of our steamers. But even should such an un- fortunate thing happen, with our boats equipped as they are, the methods which we are using to avert accidents would, we believe, reflect credit on the ‘Safety First’ system which we have evolved.” The chief marine superintendent of the largest Canadian steamship company advises tersely as follows: “The safety committee on board each of our ships is made up of the com- mander and heads of the different de- partments on board. The commander is the safety director. There is a safety inspector on board each ship in the per- son of the master-at-arms. A complete system of inspection consisting of a series of rounds of the ship at stated periods during the day and night, with an official inspection at 10:00 a. m, daily by the safety committee (commander, doctor, etc.), has been instituted. Bonuses are given for the safe naviga- tion of the ships and general satis- factory results. A complete record is kept of all accidents, and methods to prevent their recurrence are intro- duced.” ; Safety First on Lake Freighters | While the inquiry conducted by The Marine Review was confined to steam- ship companies carrying passengers, this article would not be complete without some reference tothe unusual safety pro- gram of the Lake Carriers’ Association, an organization of vessel owners in the bulk freight business on the Great Lakes. The Lake Carriers’ safety sys- tem is one of the most complete in existence and since it~ covers. the activities of approximately 12,000 ves- sel employes, is well worthy of con- sideration. Its various features have been fully covered in previous - issues of The Marine Review, but it is be- lieved a recapitulation is in order at this time. For the following succinct sum- mary, we are indebted to the Monthly Bulletin of the American Iron & Steel Institute, New York... “Much thought, care and energy have been expended by the welfare plan committee of the Lake Carriers’ Asso- ciation in the endeavor to minimize cases of personal injury. The results have been very gratifying. In this particu- lar division of the work, Harry Coulby, president of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., has been particularly active. He has made it the keynote of his talks with the masters and engineers as well as at the annual meetings of the Lake Carriers’ Association. He has been very quick to seize upon anything that might contribute to this end. No man _ has done more to awaken the conscience of the individual as to his personal re- sponsibility. Last year pennants were given to the forward and after ends of the ships of his fleet with the under- standing that they -were to remain flying so long as no injury occurred which