A Short History of Occupational Health and Safety

OSHA officially formed on April 28, 1971, the date that the OSH Act became
effective. George Guenther was appointed as the agency's first director.

OSHA has a number of training, compliance assistance, and health and safety
recognition programs throughout its history. The OSHA Training Institute, which
trains government and private sector health and safety personnel, began in 1972.
In 1978, the agency began a grant making program, now called the Susan
Harwood Training Grant Program, to train workers and employers in reducing
workplace hazards. OSHA started the Voluntary Protection Programs in 1982,
which allow employers to apply as "model workplaces" to achieve special
designation if they meet certain requirements.

Looking at the history of occupational health and safety is one of the best
ways to understand why these laws exist and the benefit they offer, even if
they’re not always easy or convenient to comply with.

Early Occupational Health and Safety Laws

 1833, United Kingdom: Formation of HM Factory Inspectorate. The

Inspectorate was tasked with inspecting factories to ensure the prevention
of injury to child textile workers.

 1837, United Kingdom: Priestly vs Fowler case established occupational

health and safety as part of common law. This introduced the old rule of
common employment.

 1840, United Kingdom: A Royal Commission published findings on the

state of conditions for workers in the mining industry. It documented the
appallingly dangerous working conditions and high frequency of
accidents in mines. The public outrage that followed resulted in Mines
Act of 1842. The act created an Inspectorate for mines and collieries
which led to many safety improvements and prosecutions. Inspectors
could enter and inspect premises at their discretion by 1850.
 1880, USA: Voluntary establishment of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME), one of the first standardizing bodies.
ASME’s formation was in response to a reported 50,000 fatalities a year
caused by explosions in pressure systems on land and at the sea.

 1883 and 1884, Germany: Otto von Bismarck brought about the western
world’s first social insurance legislation in 1883 and followed with the
first worker’s compensation law in 1884.