The human factor (1959)

industry is made of people men and women young and middle-aged and old who do a hundred different sorts of job but whatever their work they have two things in common they're alive and they can be hurt if this film helped someone to avoid injury or Saves a Life it will have been worth making [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] someone's had an accident who is it is it someone we know is he badly hurt these are the sort of questions we ask ourselves as we see an ambulance speeding through the works three people are trying to answer these questions there's the works manager and there's the safety officer and because it's a serious accident the man on the spot the foreman has been sent [Music] for the immediate boss and perhaps friend of the victim the man who tries to prevent accidents and the senior executive to whom the injured man may only be a name on a list all three feel to some extent involved in the accident all three Wonder Could I have prevented this yes but how serious doc oh you think he will H yes I see oh yes we'll let her know thanks Doc goodbye he's pretty bad he's fractured his skull and one arm and his spine's hurt but not broken Dr F have they taken him to the hospital yet no he'll be going in a few minutes they giving him a blood transfusion he's lost quite a bit Frank you'd better get back to the Loading Bay and tell them how he is how much will I tell them just say he pretty bad but doc thinks he'll pull through right sir well I'll go and ring division safety department has anyone told his wife yet no I'll ring John he can deal with that go get me the labor manager the day's work must be got on with but for these men it's a day of doubt and uneasiness and out in the works the foreman is faced with another group of men the victim's mates they too are doing something more than merely listening to facts they're asking themselves if perhaps they are directly or indirectly to blame and finally in the accident ward of the medical department is someone else who is very much involved the victim is Stanberry himself to blame is he a man to whom accidents happen did he not know the elementary rules of safety well he should have if his upbringing and education have anything to do with it [Music] yourself take care find how you go steady look after yourself or don't take care stop find how you go look after yourself steady take care look after yourself mind how you go much mind how you go look after yourself take care steady take care look after yourself D take care watch out I how you go look after yourself [Music] give me those scissors STS you'll cut yourself if you're not careful not careful not careful not careful not careful care not careful not careful not careful stop not careful you boys will get run over dashing out into the road like that like [Music] that D you be careful up there I've told you before not to go so high so high so high so high so high so high high no Stan not like that you hurt yourself look I do it like this like this like this like this like this like this like this like this always make sure there's no one underneath before you die die die die die die die don't you use your brakes unless you have to use your engine to slow down it is much safer much [Music] safer squeeze the trigger and apply a safety catch with a four finger go go [Music] go the safe worker is the offici worker and it isn't just a question of using the equipment provided to protect your you've got to use your brains as well all the time all the time all the time all the time all the time all the time all the time STS like most of us we know the safe way to behave but we don't always obey those warning voices and we can be distracted let's go back a few hours and you'll see what I mean it began as an ordinary day just like any other day perhaps Stan was a little behind schedule and having to get that coat didn't help why can't she think of these things the night before that's what I'd like to know but still I'm okay for time now what is it the pram oh my goodness why couldn't she have thought of that last night I don't know that brother of hers was here all the afternoon why couldn't he have done it and there's the bus if I miss that there's not another one till 102 and that makes me late clocking in blasted thing well there it is now I'll have to hurry that driver leades on the dot if I run I think I can make it [Music] no Stan didn't try to board it something stopped him perhaps the fact that he'd taken one risk already still it was a bad start to the [Music] when he got to work Stan was still not quite at his best it's strange how much small things affect him in his place of work is not considered particularly hazardous it's a bay where drums are stored and loaded into Rail and Road Transport they're big drums 800 weight they weigh and there's a great deal of moving them to and fro either for tiring or for loading and there are forklift trucks which are always on the move as well as contractor lorries and trains then the fact that these drums get a coat of tar means there's always wet tar about the place it's not dangerous but it's noisy and messy there's lots of different things going on at once at the loading Bay you need your wits about you all the time [Music] [Music] yes everyone has to be on their toes and there's one man whose job it is to see that they are Stan Foreman I stand [Music] loading trains goes on steadily most days but often trucks come in for special orders and it's quite common for these to be urgent you finish that train load says the foreman well here's your next job that truck over there he wants a dozen right away you'll back down to the crane here's of course you'll want your loading chit well get it then he say well you know what for are like Stan just SLI his coat with his loading book up on top most days he probably wouldn't have then it happened [Music] [Music] and there it is one moment a fine Healthy Man seconds later a bag of broken bones a near corpse something to be Handle With Care and why why did it have to happen at the investigation they know it didn't happen it was caused how they want to know what went wrong can we stop it happening again chairman of the committee is the works manager then there's the safety officer and the foreman fourth member is Mr Joe Rogers a Works counselor Stanton you were driving the contractor's Lorry on the 23rd is that right yes did you know the truck wasn't allowed between the banks of drums no were you reversing fast or slowly well it was like this sir I was was backing at normal speed but I was looking straight behind me once or twice I tried to look over on the near side to see if it was all clear like the drum stopped me seeing the forklift truck till it was nearly on me you were driving the forklift truck that was involved that's right I was and tell us what happened I picked up my load and drove along the line of the drums I found that I couldn't take much of a sweep at the corner because the crane prevented me then as I turned I saw the L and break I skidded what made you skid the melted tar is very bad for skids was your Heist moving as you drove well uh not at the time of the accident was it before well uh as I turn after picking the drums up I I usually lure them do you know this to be against the code yes thank you Craig now Frank just a couple of things did you see the shocks nailed properly no Mr Wy what was Barry doing on the drums he'd finished loading his rail wagon by then hadn't he yes he went up for his loading chit he'd left it in his coat I see well we better decide on our observations well it's one of those cases where a chain of five or six unfortunate circumstances occurred at the same time you know yes and It All Leads up to one serious accident well what are we going to say what are we going to say says the works manager what indeed is there to say that lry drivers shouldn't back their vehicles so fast that forklift truck drivers shouldn't cut Corners that foremen should see that chocks are nailed or will they find Stan very guilty of negligence or will The Works manager charge himself with failing to safeguard his men's lives whichever way they turn it's the human factor they'll come up against for no human is infallible [Music] of course the committee tries to see that this accident won't happen again for these are all men of Goodwill men who don't like people being hurt men who are determined that the product must be made and distributed without even occasional loss of life or live 100 years ago even 50 years ago this might not have been so as long as we're dealing with the human factor we'll never abolish accidents altogether but today most managers feel deeply about their work's accident rate they try to see to it the mistakes do not recur and Stan himself recovered thanks to good medical attention will be as fit as ever he was Stan is a very average sort of chap certainly not a reckless one but because of a chain of circumstances and the human factor he nearly lost his life think what else he risked his hands for instance they're adaptable tools they can do heavy work and they can do delicate work and a more sensitive and efficient than any machine his legs with their strong muscles and his back and their ability to work together with arms and hands to lift and carry then there are his senses which he also risked his hearing and his eyesight and both these connected to his brain most complex and perfect of all human mechanisms intelligence judgment memory the power to to coordinate all the other parts of the body the power of reason that lifts us above the animal the seat of all these is the human brain all these Irreplaceable and precious things were risked but of course it doesn't only stand B we've been talking about it's us you and me and all of us here's quite a crowd about 13,000 people here all having a good time well nearly half as many people again are injured in Industry every year and these can you guess the number about 750 that's the number of people killed in British industry last year some no doubt brought death on themselves some almost certainly were the innocent victims of other people's negligence but most we can be certain lost their lives because a number of people perhaps including themselves didn't do quite the right thing at a given moment call it the human factor to stay alive and be safe is not one man's responsibility it's everybody's