Current Comment

HUMAN INDIFFERENCE AND INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE  In a protest against what he terms sensational statements that have lately appeared in the press concerning the poisonous effects of certain trades on workmen, a well-known writer on the chemistry of paints, Mr. Maximilian Toch,¹ refers to a feature which might appropriately be emphasized in relation to most of the larger industries dependent on dangerous processes. This factor is the element of indifference and carelessness on the part of the workmen themselves. The necessity of manufacturing and transporting hazardous materials is an inevitable accompaniment of modern progress. Unquestionably every safeguard should be taken to avoid the possibility of disaster, every precaution applied to prevent the subtle encroaches of unappreciated danger. But when all of this has been done there remains the irresponsive and irresponsible human individual to contend with. The possibility of hedging him in has its limit. There are occupations and activities