H.—ls.

operator as lie was climbing out of the cab. The " off " position on the controller face-plate was notched and engaged a catch on the underside of the lever so that the control lever could only be normally moved by depressing a button in the control handle against the action of a spring. The accident would not have occurred had the instructions exhibited in the telpher-cab to the effect that the main switch in the cab should be opened before leaving the cab been carried out. As a further precaution against accidental starting of the motor, the trolley-pole could have been pulled away from the overhead wires. (3) The second fatal lift accident occurred at Wellington on the 14th January, 1936, with an automatic passenger lift. Late in the afternoon of that date a lock on a landing-door at the ground floor of the lift well was found defective and was repaired. In the evening of the following day a person whose office was in the building was found dead at the bottom of the lift-well. He had been missing since 2 p.m. the previous day, and there is no doubt that he fell down the lift-well from the ground floor during the time the landing-door lock was defective. It is assumed that he opened the landingdoor, and, not noticing that the lift-car was not there, walked into the lift-well. Normally it is impossible to open the landing-door of an automatic lift when the car is away from that landing. _ The defect in the lock was due to a missing screw which had worked out or had been deliberately removed by some unauthorized person. The lift had been thoroughly inspected the day before the accident, when the locks and other safety equipment were found in good condition. A contributory cause of the accident was that the light in the lift-car was not burning. (4) The remaining fatal accident occurred at the factory of the King Box Co., Ltd., Taumarunui, on the 3rd March, 1936. Shortly after work started in the morning a workman was found in a pit beneath shafting driving a large circular saw. He was unconscious, and had received head injuries from which he died four weeks later without regaining consciousness. No one witnessed the accident, and it is assumed that the victim was cleaning sawdust from the pit, as a rake used for this purpose was found with him. The pit was only about 3 ft. deep. The wounds were probably caused by his head coming in contact with clamp-fasteners used for joining a belt driving the saw shafting. The coroner's verdict stated that it was difficult to determine how the injuries were received. Sixty-five non-fatal accidents were reported during the year, and in thirty-three cases the inspectors who investigated the accidents could not suggest any improvement in safeguarding. In each of these cases the guarding was adequate, a,nd the accident was due to factors over which the Department had no control. In many cases thoughtlessness of the operators and carelessness on the part of those responsible for replacement or adjustment of guards were contributing causes. In this connection it is observed that the experience of the Department is common with that of other safety authorities —that is, that the majority of industrial accidents are due to failure of the human element. A case in point occurred in Otago in March of this year. A butcher removed the guard from the hopper of a mincing-machine for cleaning purposes. The machine was left running. He turned to speak to some one in the factory and inadvertently placed his right hand in the hopper instead of in a bowl of water nearby. Four fingers were instantly caught by the mincer knives and severed, and the man is now maimed for life. Power presses (16), saws (10), belts and shafting (8), lifts (6), guillotines (3), power mangles (2), planers (3), and printing-machines (2) were responsible for the majority of the non-fatal accidents. In forty-three cases, 66 per cent, of the total, the injuries received were to fingers and hands. It is difficult for the Department to control completely the human factor in accident-prevention work, but employers could give valuable assistance in reducing their accident rate by ensuring that workers are instructed in the proper working of machines before they are engaged to operate them, and by adopting a system of supervision and discipline that will promote safe behaviour. This is particularly essential in the case of young or new workers during the early period of their training. Of the sixty-five persons reported injured during the year, nineteen were persons of eighteen years of age and under. Some of these had been working the machines at which they were injured for very short periods. It may be inferred, therefore, that their youth and lack of experience were factors contributing to the accidents. Recognition of the fact that young people meet with more industrial accidents than older people is found in the enactments of the Inspection of Machinery Act, which require that a person under the age of fourteen years shall not be employed in working or assisting to work at, or with, any machinery ; that a person under the age of fifteen years shall not be allowed to clean certain machinery whilst it is in motion ; and that no male person under eighteen years of age and no female person under twenty years of age shall be left in charge or control of a steam boiler, steam, gas, or oil engine, nor shall work any power-driven lift, except lifts specially exempted. Consideration might be given to the extension of these enactments to cover other dangerous machinery. Staff. It is with regret that I have to record the serious illness of Mr. H. G. L. Noy, Senior Surveyor of Ships and Inspector of Machinery, Auckland. Mr. Noy has been on sick-leave since August last. He has a very creditable record in the Department, which he joined in 1912. Arrangements have been made for the transfer to Auckland of Mr. J. W. Townsend, Senior Surveyor and Inspector, Christchurch. Mr. S. N. Johnston, Wellington, has been promoted to succeed Mr. Townsend. Other consequential transfers provided for are Mr. Dawson, of Invercargill, to Wellington ; Mr. Mowatt, of Greymouth, to Invercargill. Mr. Lockie, of Auckland, will be promoted to have charge of the Greymouth district. Owing to the pending retirement of Mr. Noy and the increase in the work, three new appointments of Engineer-Surveyors of Ships and Inspectors of Machinery were made. Mr. J. S. Kerr was appointed to Auckland and Mr. A. T. Wall and Mr. F. S. Parker to Wellington.

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