NCVTS AT BELMONT
School Addition Nears Completion
r
I
MACHINE HYPNOSIS
Routine Familiarity Can Be Dangerous
Let the experienced lion
tamer stay on his guard and
usually all is well. Let him
“get so used to” his job that
he no longer lives in an at
mosphere of potential danger
— and the Big Cat is after
him for sure.
The same goes for the most
careful automobile drivers who
are prone to “highway hyp
nosis”, the sense-dulling men-
ance of the road. They’ve be
come so familiar with routine
that they no longer recognize
danger.
Thousands of workers in in
dustry, too, are injured at their
jobs each year—all because of
routine familiarity.
They become accustomed to
the machines that lift burdens
from their hands and shoulders.
And in the “freedom” and ease
of the working machines, the op
erators tend to become careless
and unaware of would-be peril.
The man with a safety record
that is consistently good knows
that mishaps and injuries have
causes. He doesn't learn the hard
way.
The hobbyist in his home
workshop and the housewife in
the kitchen know the dangers
of the mechanical aids at their
command. And knowing the
dangers, they stay alert.
Group Insurance
Guards Against
^Welfare’ Health
☆ ☆ ☆
Voluntary health insurance is
a good example of industry’s
ability to forestall any move
ment toward a welfare state, be
lieves Dr. W. L. Hogue, medical
director of the Firestone com
pany. Speaking recently before
Polk County Medical Society in
Des Moines, Iowa, he said:
“Important involved groups
in the economy are committed
to making our health insurance
program work well enough that
a comprehensive state program
is unnecessary. It is in the fields
of costs and responsibility that
we are concerned.^’
THE BURDEN of costs of
medical care has been shifted
from individuals to organiza
tions, Dr. Hogue noted, and add
ed that the total amount of
money available for medical
services has increased many-
fold.
Of several additional observa
tions which Dr. Hogue made,
these were emphasized:
Rhylhm and Routine:
"Machine Hypnosis"
But on the job, they are often
lured into “machine hypnosis”
by the smooth, easy rhythm of
production and materials-han-
dling equipment.
Conveyors are used more
widely throughout industry than
any other type of heavy machin
ery, yet less than one per cent
of all injury compensation cases
involve conveyor equipment, ac
cording to the Conveyor Equip
ment Manufacturers Association.
This good record exists because
conveyor manufacturers realize
the potential danger in any
power machinery—and do all
they can to educate operators to
the facts.
What are some of the factors
that lead to safe operation of
materials - handling equipment,
such as conveyors?
Even before you begin work
around a conveyor, learn where
controls are located—and use
them well. Stop motors before
attempting to clear a conveyor.
For repairs, call the foreman or
maintenance man.
THEN, there are these addi
tional suggestions by the Con
veyor Equipment Manufactur
ers:
:: Use a conveyor for its de
signed purpose only. This means:
• All private expenditures for
medical care amount to $15 bil
lion annually, according to the
Department of Health, Educa
tion, and Welfare. This amounts
to as much as two-thirds of the
value of all residential construc
tion in a given year.
• Health insurance benefits
are up 8 per cent this year,
compared with last year. At
Firestone the cost per man hour
worked for hospital and surgical
benefits has almost doubled
since 1956. Sickness and acci
dent benefits have increased 40
per cent.
• Abuses of health insurance
tend to inflate the benefit costs
of insurance. Industrially speak
ing, the cost of health insurance
is a cost of doing business.
When an employee is off the
job, for any reason, he is non
productive, thereby affecting
productivity. If absence is neces
sary for his health and well
being, it is accepted as a natural
part of cost. If it is over and
above that cost, it is contribut
ing to an inflationary trend.
• Holding the line on costs
of industrial health insurance is
a responsibility to be shared by
the employee, the employer,
medical organizations, physi
cians, and the general public.
Don’t ride on a conveyor if in
tended for materials alone.
: : Avoid loose clothing and
accessories that may be caught
in machinery or moving materi
als. Neckties, open sleeves, open
jackets, watch chains invite
trouble. Long, loose hair, brace
lets and other ornamentation
can mean tragedy for women.
: : Do a good housekeeping
job. Have aisles as clear as pos
sible at loading and unloading
points. Spilled grease or powder
ed materials, liquids, demand
cleanup immediately, lest some
one slip and fall onto moving
equipment.
: : Load carefully so materials
will not fall off. Don’t overload,
and watch for corners and low
clearances overhead. Shut off
machinery when it will be un
attended.
Form 3547 Requested
The two-story addition to the
North Carolina Vocational Tex
tile School plant at Belmont is
scheduled for completion in late
January. Begun the past sum
mer, the 36x61-foot unit will be
the first capital improvement at
the school since its beginning in
1943, principal Chris E. Folk
noted.
Ground floor of the new unit
will allow additional space for
the mill maintenance (machine
shop) course. Equipment for
practice in sheet-metal work and
a classroom wiU also be located
on the ground floor. The top
level will have folding doors be
tween divisions, so that the
whole area may be converted
from classroom to an auditorium,
or conference area.
More Space: More Service
And Added Instruction
This will make available the
original school building as space
for instruction in cotton testing
in the yarn manufacturing
course, and for cotton classing.
Machines will be installed for
practice in cutting and sewing
: : Away with horseplay! A
practical joke is the least ex
cuse for an injury.
Whether conveyors or any
other power equipment, famili
arity with your mighty mechan
ical workmates can breed dan
ger. On the other hand, famili
arity with their accepted rules
for operation is your means of
safety.
of knitted outerwear apparel,
this to be a part of the course in
knitting. Mr. Folk said that de
mand for this instruction is in
creasing, since several plants in
this kind of manufacturing have
begun operation in the area
served by the school.
The new auditorium will be
available for meetings and con
ferences of textile groups. “We
encourage all textile groups to
avail themselves of this service
in the new school unit,” said the
principal.
New classes in all five courses
of the school curriculum began
January 3. This term, courses
are offered in yarn manufactur
ing, weaving and designing,
knitting, mill maintenance, and
tailoring.
As the new term began, Mr.
Folk sent out this announce
ment to textile mills:
“Since we will have a good
conference room in the new ad
dition by late January, we
cordially invite individuals and
groups of employees from tex
tile plants to make appointment,
and come for a visit. When you
come, we will be able to show
what the school is doing, and
what it has to offer. We believe
this to be the most effective
way of getting employees in
terested in taking courses here.”
JANUARY. 1961 PAGE 8
‘The Sweetest
Little House
In The M^orld^
<
Mrs. Bill Mills of Ship
ping, Mr. Mills and children
Marilyn and David built this
“sweetest little house in the
world”, to help brighten the
recent holiday season at
their home on Rt. 1, Clover,
S. C.
The project began when
they read in McCall’s maga
zine about a legend from
France, of childhood expect
ancy associated with “The
House” which mothers fash
ioned of goodies and hid un
til Christmas morning. From
the magazine article the
Mills faithfully reproduced
“The House” on a 16 x 32
inch base, using hundreds
and hundreds of cookies,
gumdrops, cream wafers,
marshmallows, sugared pea
nuts and candy pebbles.
POSTAL MANUAL
SECTION 134.1
U. S. POSTAGE PAID
GASTONIA. N. C.
PERMIT NO. 29
FIRESTONE TEXTILES
P. O. BOX 551
GASTONIA. N. C.
THE LIBRARY OF UNC
CHAPEL HILL. N. C.