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Dock Management Progress Section How Successful Dock Operators Have Met Problems of Giving Best Service to Ships emcee — <i Sd Pe i 2S. eF, x “ thm. P, << ka i i Ei OO a ee el f a Hi 4 oe : . i, ~xe Discharging nitrates from ship to rail at Norfolk. Va.. Tidewater Terminals Reduce Stevedoring Accidents hazardous occupation for many reasons from among’ which might be selected the following five as being, perhaps, the most outstand- ing: 1. World need for economy, which drives ship owners to supply poor and inadequate gear with which to work their ships. 2. Competition among _ stevedores causing cutting of prices and the consequent avoidance of all actions causing delay. In other words, creat- ing rush. 8. Lack of final authority to in- sist on improvement of working con- ditions; or the taking of prompt ac- tion when unsound conditions present themselves. 4. Working hours CO handling is a peculiarly are irregular The author, S. F. C. Sweeny, is safety en- gineer of the Shipping Federation of British Columbia, Vancouver, B. By S. F. C. Sweeny and employment is full of peak loads and depressions. Night work under bad lighting conditions is prevalent. 5. The type of work is continually changing. For these reasons, through co-operation of a very generous na- ture only, can the hazards of cargo handling be materially reduced. Poor- ly found ships, poorly maintained, make for carelessness on the part of every individual having anything to do with them. Bad working con- ditions are a depressant. Competi- tion must acknowledge the _ clear boundaries of safety. Safety must have authority. Continuity of work must be. striven for. Adaptability must be obtained. Responsibility for Injuries From a responsibility classification of injuries received over a_ period of nearly two years, it is possible to state: MARINE REVIEW—July, 1927 By Thorough Co-operation (a) That from the frequency point of view, 80 per cent of our long- shore accidents could have _ been avoided by carefulness on the part of the injured or their partners only and 20 per cent might have been avoided by better methods, more con- sideration, or better gear, as pro- vided by the stevedore or ship owner. (b) That from the severity point of view, these figures must be al- tered to 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. What need for co-operation here? Obviously some need and when we consider that: both costs and personal suffering are more nearly proportional to severity than to frequency, we feel inclined to accept the severity rating of responsibility for injuries as being the measure we_ should adopt. In all our large ports there are, 35