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Introduction to Safety and

Health

Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly

referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS),
occupational health,[1] or workplace health and safety
(WHS), is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety,
health, and welfare of people at work.
Preface and Chapter.1 (Goetsch)
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 Occupational Safety and Health
Safety vs Health
• Safety and health are closely related but not the
same.
• Safety is concerned with injury-causing situation
• Health is concerned with disease-causing condition

• Stress as an example
Stress is a hazard that can come as
psychological and physiological problems so in this
case its a health concern
Stressed worker may forget safety precautions
and then may cause an accident so in this case
stress is safety concern
• Finally its managers responsibility
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 Safety vs Health
– Long term exposure to noise levels in the
range of 90 -100 decibels causes permanent
damage
– A sudden acute exposure to impact noise can
injure the hearing system.

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 Development Before the Industrial
Revolution
• Code of Hammurabi contained clauses
pertaining to safety and health.
– “If a man has caused the loss of a gentlemen’s eye,
his own eye shall be caused to be lost”.
• Egyptians used slaves in building temples and
pyramids.
– Rameses II to ensure the maintenance of a workforce
sufficient to build his major project, created an
industrial medical service and required each
worker to bathe daily.

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 Development Before the Industrial
Revolution
• The Romans were very concerned about
safety and health.
– ___________________________________
• In the 16th Century, Philippus Aureolus
looked at pulmonary disease of
miners/diseases of smelter
workers/metallurgists and Georgius
Agricola emphasized the need for
ventilation systems in the mines.

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 Development Before the Industrial
Revolution
• In the 18th Century, Bernardino Ramazzini drew
parallels between diseases suffered by
workers and their occupations.
– Handling of harmful materials, irregular or unnatural
movements of the body
• The Industrial Revolution change the nature of
production:
– Introduction of inanimate power
– Substitution of machines for people
– Introduction of new methods in fabrication
– Organization and specialization of work
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Safety and Health Movement, Then
and Now
• The safety area in the US has developed
steadily since early 1900s. Workplace Health and
Safety History, to the 1920s.mp4, https://youtu.be/7QyZX0zHGoc
In the early 1900s, industrial accidents were
common.
– In 1907 over 3200 people were killed in
mining accidents.
– Then, legislation and public opinion all
favored management..
– There were a few protections for workers’
safety.
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Safety and Health Movement, Then
and Now
• Working conditions for industrial
employees have improved significantly.
– Chance of a worker being killed is less
than half of what it was 60 years ago.
– the current death rate from work-related
injuries is approx. 4 per 100,000 or less
than a third of the rate 50 years ago.

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Safety and Health Movement, Then
and Now
• Improvements have been the result of:
– The pressure for promote safety and health,
– The steadily increasing costs associated
with accidents and injuries,
• The future improvements will be driven by cost
effectiveness and resultant competitiveness gained
from a safe and healthy workplace.
– The professionalization of safety as an
occupation.

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Milestones in the Safety Movement

• The safety movement traces its roots to

England.
• Industrial Revolution
– Outbreak of fever among the children
working in cotton mills led people in
Manchester demand better working conditions
in the factories.

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 Milestones in the Safety Movement
• When the industrial sector began to grow in the US,
hazardous working conditions became common.
• Following the Civil War, the seeds of the safety
movement were sown.
• Factory inspection was introduced in Massachusetts in 1867.
• In 1868, the first barrier safeguard was patented.
• In 1869, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a mine safety
law requiring two exits from all mines.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was established in 1869
to study industrial accidents and report pertinent information
about those accidents.

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 Milestones in the Safety Movement
• a law was passed in Massachusetts requiring safeguards for
hazardous machinery – 1877
• Employer’s liability law – 1877
• First recorded safety program established in Illinois after
scare in the factory – 1892
• Frederick Taylor conducts first systematic study on efficiency,
productivity, and profitability in manufacturing – 1900
• Bureau of Mines created – 1907
• Concept of Workers Compensation introduced – 1908

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 Milestones in the Safety Movement
• The Association of Iron and Steel Electrical Engineers
(AISEE), formed in the early 1900s, pressed for a national
conference on safety. As a result of the AISEE’s efforts, the
first meeting of the Cooperative Safety Congress (CSC)
took place in Milwaukee in 1912.
• A year after the initial meeting of the CSC, the National
Council of Industrial Safety (NCIS) was established in
Chicago.
• In 1915, this organization changed its name to the National
Safety Council. It is now the premier safety organization in
the United States.

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 Milestones in the Safety Movement
• From the end of World War I (1918) through the 1950s, safety
awareness grew steadily. Also during this period, industry in the
United States arrived at two critical conclusions:
(1) there is a definite connection between quality and safety
(2) off-the-job accidents have a negative impact on productivity.
• The 1960s saw the passage of a flurry of legislation promoting
workplace safety. Service Contract Act of 1965, Federal Metal and Nonmetallic
Mine Safety Act, Federal Coal Mine and Safety Act, Contract Workers and Safety
Standards Act, all were passed during the 1960s. As their names indicate, these laws
applied to a limited audience of workers.
• This was the primary reason behind passage of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) of 1970 and the
Federal Mine Safety Act of 1977. These federal laws,
particularly the OSH Act, represent the most significant
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legislation to date in the history of the safety movement.
 Milestones in the Safety Movement
• Total Safety Management concept introduced1996 relating to
Total Quality Management philosophy / ISO 9000 registration.
• In 2000, U.S. firms began to pursue ISO 14000 registration
• Workplace terrorism became an important issue in 2003.
• In 2010, organizations began to concern themselves with off-the-
job safety as a critical part of their overall safety and health plan.
The safety and health movement today is characterized by
professionalization and integration. The safety and health team of
a large company might include radiation control specialist,
industrial safety engineer or manager, counselor, psychologist,
and dietitian. New materials and processes are introducing new
safety and health problems, making the integrated approach a
practical necessity and promoting growth in the profession
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 Role of
• Organized Labor
– Seeked safe and healthy work environments
– Some say they focused too much on wages and
benefits
– the most important contributions of organized labor to
the safety movement was their work to overturn
antilabor laws relating to safety in the workplace
– These laws were the fellow servant rule, the statutes
defining contributory negligence, and the concept of
assumption of risk

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 Role of

• Specific Safety and Health Problems

Lung Disease in Miners(anthracosis /black spit, coal-miner’s pneumoconiosis /CWP )

Silicosis
Mercury Poisoning
Asbestos exposure

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 DEVELOPMENT OF ACCIDENT PREVENTION
PROGRAMS

According to the SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers),

around this time, industry began to realize the following:
• Improved engineering could prevent accidents.
• Employees were willing to learn & accept safety rules.
• Safety rules could be established and enforced.
• Financial savings from safety improvement could be
reaped by savings in compensation and medical bills.

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 DEVELOPMENT OF ACCIDENT PREVENTION
PROGRAMS

• Early safety programs were based on the three E’s of

safety: Engineering, Education, and Enforcement

– The engineering aspects of a safety program involve

making design improvements to both product and
process.
– The education aspect of a safety program ensures
that employees know how to work safely.
– The enforcement aspect of a safety program involves
making sure that employees abide by safety policies,
rules, regulations, practices, and procedures.
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 Safety and Health Movement
Today
• Came a long way from Industrial Revolution
ways.
• Tone was set during the WWII. Occupational Safety
and Health Administration 40 Year History Video 2011 OSHA.mp4
https://youtu.be/grwXqfEfW3g
• Need for various specialists arose: safety
engineers, safety managers, industrial
hygienists, occupational health nurses, and
physicians.

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Integrated Approach to Safety and
Health
• By working together and drawing on their areas
of expertise, S & H professionals are better able
to identify, predict, control, and correct S & H
problems.
• OSHA reinforces this integrated approach by
requiring companies to have a plan for doing:
– Providing appropriate medical treatment for injured
or ill workers
– Regularly examining workers who are exposed to
toxic substances
– Having qualified first-aid person available during
all work hours

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Integrated Approach to Safety and
Health
• Small companies may contract, while the large
ones have their own staff:
– Industrial Hygiene Chemist and/or Engineer
• Periodically test the work environment and the workers
• Dust levels, ventilation, and noise levels..
– Radiation Control Specialist
• Electrical Engineer and Physicist
• Test radiation levels
• Prepare plans for accidents/decontamination procedures
– Industrial Safety Manager or Engineer
• Developing Programs
– Other
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 Development of Safety
Organizations
• Alliance for American Insurers
• American Board of Industrial Hygiene
• American Conference of Government Industrial
Hygienists
• American Industrial Hygiene Association
• American Insurance Association
• American National Standards Institute
• American Occupational Medical Association
• American Society of Testing and Materials
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers

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 Development of Safety
Organizations
• Chemical Transportation Emergency Center
• Human Factors Society
• National Fire Protection Association
• National Safety Council
• National Safety Management Society
• Society of Automotive Engineers
• System Safety Society
• Underwriter’s Laboratories

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 Government Organizations
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Bureau of National Affairs
• Environmental Protection Agency
• National Institute for Standards and Technology
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• Superintendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office
• US Consumer Product Safety Commission

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 Other Organizations
• American Public Health Association
• Commerce Clearing House

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