Industrial Accident Statistics (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915 Excerpt: ...are likely to occur in the calculation of fatality rates on the basis of the average number employed, without reference to the actual days of employment during the year. The practical importance of such a correction is brought out in the following comparison for the year 1912, derived from the report of the United States Bureau of Mines on metal-mine accidents for that year: Table 68.-COMPARISON OF FATALITY RATES IN COAL AND METAL MINING ON THE BASIS OF THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF MEN EMPLOYED, AND THE EQUIVALENT OF 300.DAY WORKERS, DURING 1912. Source: Metal-mine Accidents in the United States, 1912, Bureau of Mines. It is shown by this comparison that the fatality rates are substantially changed when reduced to a standard basis of 300-day workers. For both classes of miners the rates are increased, but the increase in fatality rate is decidedly greater in the case of persons employed in coal mining, for whereas the fatality rate in metal mines during 1912 was 3.91 per 1,000 employed, and for coal mines 3.27, or 0.64 less per 1,000; on the corrected basis of calculation the respective rates are shown to be 4.09 per 1,000 for metal miners, against 4.36 for coal miners, or 0.27 more per 1,000. This change is the result of the important fact that metal miners worked on an average 287 days during 1912, as compared with only 225 days for coal miners. They were, therefore, during the year, exposed to the risk of mining 62 days longer than were the coal miners, and in fairness to' the industry it is only proper, aside from the general requirements for scientific exactitude, that the rates should be calculated on a standard basis of 300 working days. The following table will further illustrate the practical importance of making statistical corrections for the actual wor...