SAFETY AND PRODUCTION
in the other. These two groups represent 59,211 employees and 21,172
employees, respectively.
The indication of these figures is that industrial accidents not only
ran be controlled, but have been controlled in a substantial part of
the larger American industrial establishments during the past few
years, and that safety does not interfere with the orderly processes of
manufacture.
TABLE 1-D
INCREASES IN THE RATES OF PRODUCTION ACCOMPANIED BY DECREASES IN THE
ACCIDENT FREQUENCY RATE AND INCREASES IN THE ACCIDENT SEVERITY RATE
FOR 5 INDUSTRIAL GROUPS WITH 21,172 EMPLOYEES
Industrial groups
Cement Rock Quarrying. .
Hardware...............
Machine Tools. .........
Sheet-metal Products. ... .
Wrapping Paper. ..
Num-
ner of
com-
poten
Length
of
experi
ence
in
years
3
3 5
6 3
7 3
4
Number
Per cent
increase
of in
employees| produc-
tion
12519
1,314
2,226
3,636
1,477
42.2
4.2
1.6
12.9
2.7
Per cent
decrease
in
laccident
fre-
quency
|
5-3
52.2
18.4
14.5
36.4
Per cent
increase
in
accident
severity
4.5’
330.2
107.1
41.1
63.3
1 Fatalitv rate.
The third group of questions, 6 and 7, deals with the principal theses
presented to the Committee:
6. Does a positive correlation exist between the safety per-
formance and the efficiency of production?
Is the safe factory the efficient factory, and the efficient
factory the safe factory?
7
The complexity of the factors affecting productivity on the one hand
and safety on the other has already been pointed out. Furthermore,
as observed by Mr. Whitney in his statement of the problem, indus-
trial conditions during the major period for which production data
were obtained were far from static; in most industries there was not
only actual pressure for production, but also rapidly changing condi-
tions of production. Increased productivity, therefore, might be the
normal outcome of better and more efficient management and equip-
ment, or might be the result of forcing the industrial organization and
equipment even beyond the point of most efficient production. As
