Occupational Safety and Health in history
The Egyptians were excellent architects, stonemasons, painters, potters, and glassmakers, but also experts in the art of healing injuries and treating diseases. To build pyramids, temples, and monuments, thousands of workers laboured in difficult conditions:
heat, fatigue and pain. The techniques used for building were very refined, as we can see from the splendor of ancient Egyptian monuments.
Recent findings indicate that mining was highly developed.
Diseases like silicosis (a lung disease caused by the inhalation of crystalline silica dust and one of the main occupational diseases) have been documented by archaeologists. Accidents (such as bone fractures, scorpion stings, and snake bites) were very probably common among building workers and miners. The ancient medical texts dealing with these issues might therefore be considered early occupational health treatises.
The history of occupational medicine can be traced back to antiquity, with observations of diseases and increased mortality rates among miners dating to Greek and Roman times. Let us have a closer look at some of the main personalities who contributed to OSH history.
Hippocrates (460-377 BC) was a Greek physician who introduced rational principles into searching for the causes of diseases. His treatise on “Airs, Waters and Places” stressed the importance of environmental conditions in human health and disease. He advocated extending the physician’s duties to all social classes and provided one of the earliest descriptions of occupational lead poisoning and silicosis. However, in those times, the workers used no protection. Because observation was the primary principle of Hippocratic medicine, he is generally regarded as the father of medicine. His work greatly influenced medical practice for centuries.
Paracelsus (1493-1541) was a Swiss physician, alchemist, chemist, and theologian (today we would say a researcher) who influenced society with his innovative ideas and clever observations. He believed that diseases originated from salt, sulfur, and mercury, and he carried out experiments and observations. His skills in medical consulting were well known. It is reported that he successfully treated several diseases with metals. He described silicosis and the connection between goitre and minerals in drinking water. He defended the importance of practical knowledge and was one of the first to write scientific books for the public. However, he frequently had to face the opposition of political authorities, and quarreled with judges and colleagues, who considered him a rebel and accused him of using poisons.
Bernardino Ramazzini (1633-1714). He is internationally recognized as the “father of industrial medicine”. Occupational medicine emerged as a science with his work. He taught medicine in Modena and Padua, and in 1700 published his comprehensive book on industrial medicine, De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (The Diseases of Workers). His book contained accurate, systematic descriptions of the occupational diseases of most of the workers of his time, highlighting the health hazards of dusts, metals and chemical substances used in many productive activities. Ramazzini greatly affected the future of industrial hygiene because he asserted that occupational diseases should be studied directly in the work environment rather than in hospitals.
Alice Hamilton (1869-1970). Alice Hamilton was the first woman to be appointed professor at Harvard University. During her long career, she observed working conditions and warned about the correlation between diseases and occupational exposure to toxins. She also presented proposals for eliminating unhealthy working conditions. She dedicated her life to ameliorating both industrial hygiene and social conditions. Hamilton studied toxic exposure in the lead, rubber, rayon, viscose and munitions industries. She strongly advocated workmen’s compensation laws and safer working conditions. Her scientific findings also helped the campaign against child labour. Her passion for social issues involved her in the pacifist movement during World War I and persisted after her retirement.
References:
“Chronologic History of Occupational Medicine”. M. Gochfeld; J. Occup. Environmental Medicine. 2005. Feb; 47 (2):96-114.
Encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety”. Third (revised) edition, ILO, 1983
