Historical Perspective and Overview

Safety Movement

Has developed steadily since the early 1900’s.

Industrial accidents were commonplace in this country.

In 1907 over 3,200 people were killed in mining accidents.

Safety Movement

Legislation, precedent, and public opinion all favored management.

Few protections for workers’ safety. Today working conditions have

improved. The current death rate from work-related

injuries is less than a third of the rate 50 years ago.

Before the Industrial Revolution Safety & health laws begins in the days

of the ancient Babylonians, circa 2000 BC.

The code of Hammurabi. Contained clauses dealing with injuries,

allowable fees for physicians, and monetary damages assessed against those who injured others.

Before the Industrial Revolution The movement continued with the

Egyptian civilization. Rameses II (circa 1500 BC), undertook

a major construction project. To be successful, Rameses created an

industrial medical service to care for workers.

Before the Industrial Revolution They were required to bathe daily in the

Nile, and were given regular medical examinations.

Sick workers were isolated.

Before the Industrial Revolution The Romans were also concerned with

safety & health. They built aqueducts, sewerage

systems, public bathes, latrines, and well-ventilated houses.

Milestones in the Safety Movement 1867 Massachusetts introduces factory

inspections. 1868 patent is awarded for the first

barrier safeguard. 1869 Pennsylvania passes law requiring

two exists from all mines, and the Bureau of labor Statistics is formed.

Milestones in the Safety Movement 1877 Massachusetts passes a law

requiring safeguards on hazardous machines, and the Employer’s liability law is passed.

1892 First recorded safety program is established.

1900 Fredrick Taylor conducts first systematic studies of efficiency in manufacturing.

Milestones in the Safety Movement 1907 Bureau of Mines is created by U.S.

Department of the Interior. 1908 Concept of workers compensation

is introduced in the United States. 1911 Wisconsin passes the first

effective workers’ compensation law in the United States.

Milestones in the Safety Movement 1911 New Jersey becomes the first

state to uphold a workers compensation law.

1912 First Cooperative Safety Congress meets in Milwaukee.

1913 National Council of Industrial Safety is formed.

1915 NCIS changes its name to National Safety Council.

Milestones in the Safety Movement 1916 Concept of negligent manufacture

is established (product liability). 1936 National Silicosis Conference

convened by the U.S. secretary of Labor.

1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act passes.

1977 Federal Mine Safety Act passes.

Milestones in the Safety Movement 1986 Superfund Amendments &

Reauthorization Act passes. 1990 Amended Clean Air Act of 1970

passes. 1996 Total safety management (TSM)

concept is introduced.

Milestones in the Safety Movement 2000 U.S. firms begin to pursue ISO

14000 registration for environmental safety management.

2003 Workplace terrorism is an ongoing concern of safety & health professionals.

2007 Safety of older people reentering the workplace becomes an issue.

Tragedies and Change

Safety and health tragedies in the workplace have greatly accelerated the pace of the safety movement in the U.S.

Three of the most significant were the Hawk’s nest, asbestos, and Bhopal tragedies.

Hawk’s Nest Tragedy

The Great Depression was indirectly responsible for the attention given to an occupational disease that came to be known as silicosis.

This was a disease that caused lung damage from breathing silica.

Showed up on pre-employment physicals resulting from people changing jobs.

Hawk’s Nest Tragedy

A company was given a contract to drill a passageway through a mountain in West Virginia.

Workers spent as many as 10 hours a day breathing the dust created by the drilling and blasting.

This mountain had an unusually high silica content.

Hawk’s Nest Tragedy

Silicosis is a disease that normally takes 10 to 30 years to show up in exposed workers.

At Hawk’s Nest, workers were dying in as little time as a year.

By the time the project was completed, hundreds had died.

Asbestos Menace

Once considered a miracle fiber. In 1964, at a conference it was revealed

that this material was killing workers. Was first linked to lung cancer and

respiratory diseases. Was one of the most widely used

materials in the U.S.

Asbestos Menace

Found in homes, schools, offices, factories, ships and even in the filters of cigarettes.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, asbestos became a controlled material.

Bhopal Tragedy

1984 Union Carbide Chemical plant in Bhopal, India suffered a major plant failure.

Over 40 tons of methyl isocyanate leaked out and killed more than 3,000 people.

As many as 50,000 additional people were exposed to the poisonous gas

Bhopal Tragedy

The company was accused of criminal negligence, corporate prejudice, and avoidance.

Provided incentive for the passage of stricter safety legislation worldwide.

In the U.S. led to the passage of the Emergency Planning & Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)-1986

Role of Organized Labor Worked to overturn anti-labor laws

relating to the safety in the workplace. The fellow servant rule - held that

employers were not liable for workplace injures that resulted from the negligence of other employees.

Role of Organized Labor Contributory negligence - if the actions

of employees contributed to their own injures, the employer was absolved of any liability.

Assumption of risk - theory that people who accept a job assume the risks that go with it.

Accident Prevention Programs There are many different types of

accident prevention programs - simple to complex.

Widely used accident prevention techniques include failure minimization, fail-safe designs, isolation, lockouts, screening, personal protective equipment, redundancy, and timed replacements.

Accident Prevention Programs In the 1800’s employers had little

concern for the safety of workers. Between WW I and WW II, industry

discovered the connection between quality and safety.

During WW II there were severe labor shortages.

Accident Prevention Programs Employers could not afford to lose

workers to accidents. This realization created a greater

openness towards increasing worker safety.

Improved engineering could prevent accidents.

Employees were willing to learn and accept safety rules.

Accident Prevention Programs Safety rules could be established and

enforced. Financial savings from safety

improvement could be reaped by savings in compensation and medical bills,

Early safety programs were based on the three E’s of safety - engineering, education, and enforcement.