History of factory and mine hygiene

The information on industrial hygiene in antiquity is very scanty. It is true that many physicians since Hippocrates have told us something about occupational diseases, especially lead poisoning, and also about their treatment. But very little is said of their control, and some of what is said-for instance the advice of Pliny on protection in breathing- offers and inefficient method. During the Middle Ages nothing new was added, which is easily explained by the fact that all industrial activity was performed in small workshops. The mines were also small. There were only a few exceptions of larger workshops and mines. The low level of the natural sciences, of medicine, and technology made an efficient control impossible. The first efforts to diminish industrial hazards by technical means we find in the mines, where without such installations the work had become impossible (Agricola). Although the work of Ramazzini (1700) does not contain much about industrial hygiene, the works of some of his translators and revisers (Ackermann, Patissier) show great progress, seemingly due to the influence of the encyclopedists and the French Revolution. The beginning of the development of technology was also followed by an increasing number of prophylactic measures. The economic evolution, which in England in the 18th century initiated the rise of capitalism and the use of machinery, created horrible conditions inside factories as well as outside in the workers' districts. England, which had taken the lead in the development of industry, also took the lead in the corresponding labor protection and industrial hygiene. In all countries the first labor laws were laws for the protection of children, sometimes embodying regulations related to measures of hygiene. The enactment of such laws was preceded by severe struggles between-on the one hand-manufacturers, the economic school of laissez faire, laissez aller, and the dogma of free enterprise without government interference and-on the other hand-the humanitarians (often from the class of manufacturers themselves), intelligent government officials, and the growing influence of the working class. These struggles finally resulted in the enforcement of protective laws and the appointment of special officials invested with the appropriate powers and finally the investment of governmental employees with the right to issue-under parliamentary control-regulations for hazardous industries. The injuries to human life and health in the first ruthless years of industrialization were so evident that it did not at first require scientific research to show the necessity of improvements and to recognize the remedies. But very soon it proved necessary to investigate working conditions and their effect on human health. This was down by private individuals, scientists and physicians, and shortly thereafter in England by governmental councils and officials as well-particularly factory inspectors-appointed for the enforcement of early labor laws. A little later such investigations also were undertaken in the other European countries. Thus there developed in the third and especially in the fourth quarter of the 19th century a science of industrial hygiene. It developed further, using the methods available at that time in the medical, technical, and statistical sciences. The growing realization that men are more important than economy, that the latter must serve the well-being of the people, that the prosperity of both employer and employed are interrelated- these and the increasing influence of the working class promoted the practical use of the scientific and technical knowledge acquired and spurred the hygienic sciences to proceed still further. When the most easily recognized evils had been at least partially removed, the recognition of others-and hence their control-could be achieved only by exact studies. Thus the science of industrial hygiene widened and deepened. The task remaining is first of all to put into more widespread practice all the measures discovered in these ways, to restrict dangers and control noxious substances, and to improve industrial health generally. Numerous laws- exact and detailed rules and regulations- are necessary, as well as their enforcement by highly qualified factory inspectors. As far as it is possible to evaluate the situation from available statistics, we find a high incidence of accidents and occupational diseases at the beginning of state intervention, followed by a distinct decrease in consequence of this intervention. The better the governmental regulations and the more efficiently they are enforced, the greater has been the actual progress in eliminating accidents and diseases. These laws and regulations together with the officials for their enforcement, the factory inspectors, are the backbone of practical industrial hygiene in Europe and in several states of the United States. All of which shows that laws and regulations, thoroughly worked out, and enforced by well-trained inspectors, are indispensable to the practice of industrial hygiene. With these as a basis, it is important to have the cooperation of associations of experts, of trade unions, scientists and physicians.