ABSTRACT
The subject of time-keeping is very important in its relationship to industrial efficiency and fatigue, but it has hitherto received very little systematic study. The causes of bad time-keeping are so numerous, and so difficult to disentangle, that the conclusions drawn from a study of time-keeping records are necessarily somewhat uncertain. The term ‘lost time’ is rather an indefinite one, as its significance varies in different industries and may change from year to year. Loss of working time falls under two main headings, unavoidable and avoidable. Unavoidable lost time is due to sickness and accidents, and this is the class of time which is specially interesting to the student of industrial fatigue. One of the most important contributory causes of sickness and of the loss of working time is fatigue arising directly from industrial work.
