The New York conference on the National Electrical Safety Code

A notable conference was held in the headquarters of the Institute, beginning October 25, 1915, and lasting two weeks, on the National Electrical Safety Code which has been prepared by the Bureau of Standards. It had been expected that a conference would be held in Washington, beginning October 27, at which delegates were to attend from the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the National Electric Light Association, the American Electric Railway Association, the telephone interests, the fire and casualty insurance interests, the state industrial and public service commissions, several of the larger cities, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the National Safety Council, and a considerable number of engineers representing groups of utility companies with which the representatives of the Bureau of Standards had held conferences in different parts of the country. The expectation was that this conference would discuss and amend the code as presented by the Bureau, and then approve it for use, the recommendation of the Bureau being that for the first year the code be adopted on trial, subject to amendment at the end of the year. However, at the urgent request of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, of the National Electrical Light Association, and the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies, the Bureau postponed the Washington conference and held instead a conference with representatives of the various utilities that are affected by the code and of some of the electrical manufacturers. The object of this conference was to enable a thorough study of the code to be made in conjunction with the representatives of the Bureau of Standards, by representatives from various parts of the country of the electric light and power companies, the steam and electric railways, the telephone and telegraph companies, and the manufacturers. The delegates included those previously appointed by the engineering societies to a- tend the Washington conference, together with a large number of others selected to give the best representation possible for the different parts of the country and the different interests. Six engineers from the Pacific coast came east especially to attend the conference, one of whom represented the California Industrial Accident Commission, which has been cooperating with the Bureau in the preparation of the code. Eighty-five persons in all attended the sessions, a majority of whom remained through the entire conference.