deaths due to accidents in factories
s.m.vi...@gmail.com
that were absolutely startling to me. In the first 16 months of WWII,
about 12,000 Americans died in combat yet 64,000 factory workers died
in production efforts for the war and something like six million would
be seriously injured by the war's end. Does this sound right?
Rich Rostrom
> ... the History Channel [said]... In the first 16 months of WWII,
> ... 64,000 factory workers died in production efforts for the war
> and something like six million would be seriously injured by the
> war's end. Does this sound right?
The Statistical Abstract for 1945 estimates 40,000 deaths by
industrial accident in 1942 and 1943. So right there, the numbers
are too high. That total includes all industry, much of which was
not war production. (Maybe 1/2 was.)
As to injuries, that may be less ridiculous. Stat Ab indicates
4.4 million "temporary total disabilities" for 1942 and 1943,
and 200,000 "permanent total disabilities". Again, this is all
industry, not just war industry, but only "total disabilities".
(What does that mean? I'm guessing it means anything
which forced the victim to take time off work.)
If half of the 4.6M recorded injuries in those two years were
war industry, then there were about 100,000 such per month.
The U.S. was at war for 45 months (12/41 through 7/45),
so the total for the war should be around 4.5M - and could be
higher if lesser injuries are included.
Dave
wrote:
>
> As to injuries, that may be less ridiculous. Stat Ab indicates
> 4.4 million "temporary total disabilities" for 1942 and 1943,
> and 200,000 "permanent total disabilities".
One difficulty in apportioning deaths and injuries is what constituted
war industries. Coal mining? Food production? Transportation?
These figures seem awfully high even given the lack of safety measures
and the low quality of the work force.
Rich Rostrom
> One difficulty in apportioning deaths and injuries is what constituted
> war industries. Coal mining? Food production? Transportation?
Quite so. Resource extraction served both war needs
and the ongoing civilian economy; production for the
two areas was necessarily commingled.
The same would be true of basic manufacturing,
such as steel-making - or transportation: a freight
train could have a boxcar loaded with rifles, and
another loaded with ladies' shoes. If a brakemen
on that train is injured, is it war-related?
hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com
Other posters have quoted some statistics. I can't comment on them,
but there were some factors in war production:
--There was a great deal of heavy industry back then and it was
dangerous, especially by today's standards. For example, in the 1980s
a large steel mill had a fatality rate of roughly three people per
year, back in the 1940s it would be higher.
--Consider motor vehicles: no seat belts or air bags, much looser
driver licensing and registration, poor tires, especially under war
time conditions, brittle non-safety glass in older car windows, poor
roads, few reflective signs, etc. The annual road fatalities were
about the same as now--38,000--but far, far fewer miles were driven.
--Weaker medical care: If someone suffered a serious industrial
accident medical science had far fewer tools in which to treat the
victim. Infection was a big problem.
--War time pressure: A pervasive theme in writings about the home
front was the constant reminder "doncha know there's a war on?" The
govt and industry put out numerous motivational posters and films
encouraging ever more production. People were motivated to work
harder to help fight the war. Safety rules were bent. But the long
hours and pressure lead to accidents.
As an example, the Manhattan Engineer District had radiation safety
rules and checkups. But many workers were so rushed they didn't
bother getting checked per the rules. Others took dangerous
shortcuts. Many workers simply didn't know due to secrecry they were
working with radiation. (What was strange was that two researchers at
Los Alamos were killed by taking such shortcuts, except it was _after_
the war was over.)
--Untrained workers: Many youths, retirees, and women were rushed
into industry to replace men who went into the service. Being
inexperienced they made mistakes. At least one streetcar operator had
an accident that destroyed several cars as a result of inexperienced
workers making a mistake.
The Pennsylvania Railroad, as well as other carriers, suffered from
accidents, one terribly serious in North Philadelphia. I don't know
the the detailed causes of the accidents, but I wonder if the pressure
of war--using inexperienced crews, rushing a high volume of trains
through, etc--contributed to the accidents.