HISTORY OF OCCUPATIONAL

HEALTH
 1
• Occupational Health is defined as all activities
and programmes that are engaged upon
aiming to attain and maintain the highest level
of health and safety for all people engaged in
any type of work. This is achieved through the
approach of disease prevention, general
health promotion and safety assurance
Development of Occupational Health
• Globally Bernadino Ramazzini, an Italian Physician is
regarded as the father of occupational medicine.
Though there were people before him, he was the first
to systematically study Occupational Health
• Bernadino Ramazzini published his systematic study of
occupational diseases in his book titled De Morbis
Artificum Datriba
• Percival Pott- established the relationship between
chimney sweeping and Ca scrotum in the sweepers
• George Baker – established the link between
abdominal colic due to lead poisoning with the
Davonshire colic of that area of Britain at that time
• Charles Turner Thackrah – published the first
treatise in occupational health on ‘the diseases of
the arts, trades and professions and of certain civic
states and habits of living’. The work which was
published in 1832 was largely instrumental to
passing of the first ever effective British Factories
Act in 1833
• Sir Thomas Legg – is a physician who worked hard in
occupational health. He developed four very
important aphorisms in occupational health and
became the first Medical Inspector of Factories in
Britain in 1898
• Alice Hamilton – The pioneer occupational physician
and researcher in occupational health in USA. She
later became the 1st Professor of Occupational
Medicine at the Havard Medical School
Others that attempted to document issues relating to OH
before Bernadino Ramazzini
Georgius Agricola, a German physician who established
health problems of miners including silicosis and accidents.
He published a book in occupational health titled De Re
Metalica
Phillippus Aureolus Paracelsus – a physician and chemist also
a German before Agricola reported about the toxicity due to
mercury and sulphur
Galen- an outstanding physician after Hippocrates, Greek by
origin reported dangers of acid mists in copper mines
• Gaius Plinus Secundus (Pliny the Elder) – a Roman,
documented dangers associated with sulphur and
zinc mining. He invented a protective mask in
workers not only in mines but in other workplaces
involving fumes
• Hippocrates – the greatest physician of antiquity. He
was a Greek and regarded as the father of Scientific
Medicine recognised the danger of lead mining. His
well known contribution to environmental health is
the write-up titled ‘Airs, Waters and Places’
 History of Occupational Health in Nigeria

• Occupational Health in Nigeria even in the 20th

century could be said to be rudimentary
• The earliest practice that can be said to be
called occupational Health practices were on
site first aid, medical care and hygiene by UAC
and John Holts and were British companies
This was later followed by the Railways and
Coal mines in 1930,s
The summary of key occupational health developments in
Nigeria is as follows
• 1941 - Workman’s Compensation Ordinance was introduced
which was replace in 1987 by the Workman Compensation
Decree of 1987
• 1942 – The Department of Labour was created
• 1945 – The Labour Code Ordinance was enacted and was
replaced by the Labour Decree (later Act) of 1974
• 1951 – The Ministry of Labour was created
• 1955 The Factory Act was enacted, amended in 1958 and
later replaced by the Factories Decree of 1987
• 1958 – Various regulations relating to Occupational Health and Safety in
Nigeria was introduced
• 1962 – The first National Industrial Safety Conference was organised by the
first Chief Inspector Of Factories in Nigeria Mr P.R.F. Britinell. In this
conference Dr R. Schram called for the creation of a lectureship in
Occupational Health independently of jointly in the Universities of Ibadan
and Lagos
• 1964/68 – A lectureship position in Occupational Health at the College of
Medicine, University of Lagos was created and Dr G. O. Oluwole was
appointed to it.
• Dr G.O.Oluwole had DIH in 1965 from Dundee and rose to the rank of
Professor in the University of Benin and helped to organised the first
International Seminar in Occupational Health for Developing Countries in
Lagos , Nigeria in1968
• 1970,s – The Society of Occupational Health
Physicians was formed
• The Industrial Nurses Association of Nigeria
was formed in the 70,s
• Division of Occupational Health and
Environmental Health was created in the
Federal Ministry of Health
• Call for such units at State levels was made
• Now multinational companies, Government
Parastatals, Developmental Agencies, Banks,
Oil companies etc have various forms of
Occupational Health services