SKILL CENTRE EMPHASIZES SAFETY kk kk KR Chicago area safety dir- ectors are pleased to learn that graduates hired from the new Chicago Skill Centre have been fully trained in safe procedures and sold on the value of protective equipment and clothing used in plying their newly-acquir- ed skills. Walter Schwaar, director of the centre, told OCCUPA- TIONAL HAZARDS that safety comes first for all trainees and instructors in all pro- duction classes. ‘Our classes are equipped and operated to conform to the Occupational Safety and Health Act,'' he said. Trainees in the welding shop, for instance, are provided a full line of pro- tective equipment and clothing. Welding booths separated by flame-resistant screens. All trainees and Instructors wear leather capes, sleeves, bibs, and gloves to protect them from sparks and not metal. Students learn safety proce- dures, not by listening to lectures, but by doin. Safety training also includes learning the loca- tion of fire extinquishers, building exits, and establist -ed emergency procedures. The Chicago Skill Centre runs a vocational education program for the unemployed and high school dropouts. The proqram is administered by the Economic Development Operations department of Thiokol Chemical Corporation which fits job training to the needs of the local job market. Funding comes from the City of Chicaqo and the Federal government. =~ ae Students in the centre receive a monthly stipend during their 3-month training period. The centre then places the graduate in a job or in another school for more training. At present, course offer- ings for the 300 trainees are limited to welding, metal working, drafting, and office skills, such as typing and bookkeeping. When the centre moves to its new $8 million building, enrollment and the curriculum will expand. Does your area have a com- parable centre, and if so, are students getting the safety orientation they need? You and your colleaques should make it your business to find out. Don't let safe- ty be a casualty as it is in too many of these manpower development training courses. kt & & Re KR Mark Anthony:"I want to see Clecpatra." . Servont: "She's tn bed wtth laryngitis." Mark: "Darn those Creeks!" * & x & x & LONG HAIR CAUSES INDUSTRIAL “ACCIDENTS, The Workmen's Compensation Board in Vancouver reports - receiving several recent claims from persons who have been injured when their long hair caught in machines at work, The claims have come from a variety of industries and are from both men and women. WCR accident prevention inspection director J.D. Pate on said that where there is danger of cantact with mov- ing, parts of machinery, WCB regulations require that hair on the head and face should be completely confined or cut short, 17 "It is not necessary for hair to be in direct contact with machinery to produce a hazard," he said. "Hair can be attracted by static electricity to moving belts, spindles or rollers." It is very difficult to remove the static hazard com- pletely by mechanical means, so measures such as tying back the hair or wearing suit- able head gear are necessary. For example, a 20-year- old carpenter in Duncan, B.C. lost a week from work when somé of his hair caught in a small bench drill press he was using. A patch of hair was torn from the right side of his head. A young Vancouver office worker caught her hair in a keypunch machine. She suff- ered contusins to her scalp and swelling. Fellow employ- ees had to cut her hair to free her from the machine. Another worker, an elect- rician in White Rock, 8.C. iost the upper part of his ear and a large area of hair, even though he had his hair tied back at the time cf the accident. He was using an electric drill when the trigger started to stick. He turned it over to try to fix it and a piece of hair caught in the drill bit. A clothing manufacturer's employee in Vancouver lost part of her hair when it c caught in a fabric cutting machine. She had just been moved to a new machine and hadn't bothered to tie back her hair. Workmen have lfterally been scalped when their hair his caught in machines. Observiag WCB regulations and keeping, hair confined when working near machinery with moving parts could mean prevention of a painful and disfipuring injury.