TECHNOLOGY
Du Pont offers safety training program Program based on proven techniques for improving safety incorporates extensive use of programed instruction courses A safety observation training program for industrial supervisors, developed by Du Pont's petroleum chemicals division, is now available at nominal cost for use by interested companies. The objective of the Safety Training Observation Program (STOP) is to train supervisors at all levels of responsibility to become improved observers of unsafe acts and thus help improve the safety performance of their units. The STOP system has been tested with more than 500 supervisors at a dozen Du Pont plants during the past two and a half years. The effectiveness of the new program is based on two characteristics: a systematic application of proven techniques for the detection of unsafe acts and conditions; and the extensive use of programed instruction courses to ensure desired learning and retention as cheaply and as quickly as possible.
The STOP system has eight units: •Introduction (background and reasons for program). • Personal protective equipment. • Positions of people. • Actions of people. • Tools. • Equipment. • Procedures. • Orderliness and review. Each unit requires one and a half to two hours to complete. Developers of the system recommend that the techniques and principles of each unit be applied on the job for two or three weeks before taking the next unit. The sequence of units is designed so that each unit builds on the previous subject matter. The STOP system uses programed instruction courses at the beginning to teach the safety observation techniques required by skilled supervisors. Following the development of a safety
check list and discussion of material learned, the supervisor applies to his individual job the subject matter taught in each unit. Du Pont says that a major value of the system is that it involves participation by all levels of supervision—from plant manager to foreman. The system applies the team approach, with backing from top management, to a most important facet of industrial activity. The developers of the system recognize the fact that most lost-time injuries are caused by unsafe acts of people and not by faulty equipment or "luck," Du Pont says. (One Du Pont survey in one of its departments showed that 967c of lost-time injuries were caused by unsafe practices.) In addition to the STOP system, Du Pont offers outside the company more than 100 other programed instruction courses. All were developed originally to fill the company's own needs for training in basic industrial maintenance skills. For example, a short course entitled "New Employee Safety Training" is designed to establish in a new employee's mind the idea that working safely for his employer is an important condition of employment. For more information concerning the training programs, write to Industrial Training Service, Room N7450, Du Pont Co., Wilmington, Del. 19898.
C&EN PROGRESS REPORT
COMMERCIAL CHEMICALS For further information on these products, just check the appropriate key numbers on the coupon on page 50, and C&EN's Readers' Information Service will forward your request to the manufacturer.
MATERIAL
COMPANY Climax Molybdenum Co. New York, N.Y. Hynes Chemical Research Durham, N.C.
Ammonium 6-molybdoferrate(lll)
C 65
Halogenated ketones
C66
Dihydrazides
C 67
Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp. New York, N.Y.
Rare-earth acetylacetonates
C 68
Research Organic/Inorganic Chemical Co. Sun Valley, Calif.
Vaska compounds
C 69
Strem Chemicals, Inc. Danvers, Mass.
Available in commercial quantities unless otherwise noted.
48 C&EN JAN. 16, 1967
FEATURES
White crystalline compound available in experimental quantities Fluoropentachloroacetone and difluorotetrachloroacetone offered in pilotplant quantities; pentafluoroacetone available in research quantities Adipic dihydrazide is used as intermediate in polymerizations; sebacic dihydrazide is a heat-activated epoxy curing agent and an extender for urethanes; both chemicals available in development quantities Stable crystalline acetylacetonates of 16 rare-earth metals are available in commercial quantities; soluble in organic solvents; useful in organometallic lasers, special phosphors, and catalysts lrCI(CO)(Ph3P)2 and lrH(CO)(Ph3P)3 are available with analogous rhodium compounds; useful in homogeneous catalysis
