oshe 111 lecture # 2 historical perspective and milestones in oshe presented by dr. ephraim massawe

OSHE 111

Lecture # 2Historical perspective and milestones in OSHE

Presented by Dr. Ephraim Massawe

What is safety and what is health?

• Safety is concerned with: • Injury-causing situations – which in turn can result from work or occupational and non-work

or non-occupational related hazards or from sudden severe conditions

• Health is concerned with: • Diseases causing conditions – • Dealing with adverse reactions to acute, chronic exposures to dangerous, but less intense,

hazards

Safety and health

• How is safety and health related? • Stress can be a health hazard that may cause or result into psychological and

physiological problems over a long period of time • Too much stress on a worker may give rise to inefficiency – leading to

accidents. • So stress can also be a safety issue

Safety and health management

• Managers are responsible for health and safety in the workplace; and ensuring these are maintained

• Safety and health engineers should advise managers accordingly.

• To do so, safety and health engineers need academic background that covers both safety and health; and the environment!

• How is “environment” related to safety and health in the Safety, Heath and Environment: a safety manager wears a hat of safety, environment and health!

Six philosophical reasons why safety and health programs and knowledge are

important

• (1) Prevent accidents: which may arise from the technological advance & lead to serious or fatal injury & illnesses

• (2) Failure to take precautionary measures against predictable accidents or exposures to hazards has repercussions to:- • management and workers • moral responsibilities amongst these players (management and employees) • Recent state and federal laws mandate that management take the lead role to ensure workers’ safety and health

• (3) Accidents; illnesses and diseases at workplaces: lower productivity and limit efficiency; accidents or incidents lead to lower productivity and inefficiency • Financial losses and loss of revenue due to medical care and insurance claims• (4) Social implications of accidents: illnesses and diseases resulting from

workplaces have far reaching consequences; families lives are disrupted; education for children; providing for extended families & health insurance• (5) Safety movement since pre-historic times and after 1970’s: show that

regulatory and voluntary programs can reduce accidents; illnesses and diseases • • (6) State and federal regulations and standards: mandate the employers to take

the lead in the management and improvement of workplace safety and health

Six philosophical reasons why safety and health programs and knowledge are

important

Historical perspectives:safety and health movement and professional growth in the U.S.

• Historical and technological foundation of safety engineering:

• (i) Pre-industrial development (pre-civilization period) • (ii) Milestones in the safety movement • (iii) What are the tragedies that shaped the safety movement leading to the

safety and health profession and professionals that we see today? • (iv) What is or what are the roles of different factors e.g. organizations including

organized labor in the safety and health movement in this country?• (v) development of accident prevention programs• (vi) safety and health movement today (static or still evolving?)

• Safety and health practice before the industrial revolution • The past will shape the future. That is why we need to know what happened in

the past • Although craftsmen and their assistants worked with crude tools - safety was

not an issue • Emphasis at the time was more on the quality of goods and products and not

so much on the quantity produced • The reputation of the master to his employees was very crucial

Safety and health during the pre-industrial revolution era

• Safety and Health before the industrial revolution • Example 1:The code of Hammurabi in the ancient Babylonians (2000 B.C.): The

code encompassed laws that addressed health and safety • Clauses dealing with injuries were included • Allowable fees for physicians dealing with occupational injuries and illnesses • Monetary rewards for injured person(s)

• Example 2: Egyptians used slaves for construction activities They didn’t care about their health or safety – One Egyptian Ruler, Ramasee 11 (1500 B.C.) wanted to build a temple bearing his name – He created an industrial health and safety program to care for slave workers who were asked to take bath daily in the river Nile » Isolated sick workers from healthy ones » Regular med exams to workers


• – Example 3: Romans were concerned with the safety and health aspects of their lives; evidence seen in construction projects today » They built sewerage systems, public baths and latrines and well ventilated homes and work places

• Summary remarks about safety and health before the industrial revolution: use of apprentices as assistants was common; systems of production fostered skills and safety; close and personal supervision by masters and hence lower accidents; long term master-worker relationship; emphasis on quality rather than quantity


• This is the time referred to as the period of civilization • Introduction of machinery to replace people (e.g. steam power) • Substitution of machines for people • Introduction of new methods for converting raw materials (minerals etc) into usable products, processes and services• Organization and specialized work; division of labor• During this time: production shifted emphasis – more towards products that were

needed; production rates increased; automation moved in; the demand for more products created hazardous work conditions » These conditions necessitated the need to focus attention towards safety and health of workers » Why? Because automation increased hazardous workings conditions.

Safety and health in the era of industrial revolution and beyond

• Hazardous working conditions due to technological breakthrough:• More products to the markets (100,000 chemicals some hazardous) • • Machines hazards (electrical, confined spaces, mechanical) increased •

Extreme heat and cold stress • Exposure to radiation (non-ionizing and ionizing radiation)

• Safety and Health Movement in the U.S. traces its roots to the Great Britain’s history during this time• Child labor was common during industrial revolution (in 1900 at least

1,750,178 working children ranged between aged 10-14) • Working hours were long (12-14 hrs/day) • Hard work


• Safety and Health Movement in the U.S. traces its roots to the Great Britain’s history • Conditions of work were unsafe and unhealthy • No health and safety guidelines • Death rates and injuries were considered as the “cost of doing business” • An injured worker had one option: to sue the employer for damages – but common laws at the time favored the employer• In the early 1800, there was an outbreak among children working in the cotton

mills • People of Manchester demanded better working conditions • Public pressure resulted in the health and morals of apprentices act. – This act marked the beginning of the British Government involvement in Safety and Health


• When the industrial sector began to grow in the U.S., Factory Inspectorate was introduced in Massachusetts in 1867 • In 1869 Pennsylvania introduced a legislation that eventually became a mine safety law – this law required two exits from the underground mines • The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was established in 1869 in order to “study industrial accidents and report pertinent information about those accidents”• The concept of Workers Compensation (WC) was introduced into the U.S. from

Germany in 1908; The state of NY enacted its first modern WC law in 1910 but was declared unconstitutional; Wisconsin became the first state in the U.S. to enact a constitutionally valid WC Law in 1911. Wisconsin followed by New Jersey• • The idea of the WC laws: to compensation for the on-the-job injuries regardless

of who was at fault


• In 1877, Massachusetts required safeguards for hazardous machinery • Employers liability law establishing liability on the part of the employer for workplace accidents also passed in 1877• In 1882, the first recorded safety program was established in Illinois in response

to a scare caused when a flywheel exploded. This is considered the first safety program in the American history• In the early 1900 a person known as Frederick Taylor began a study “Efficiency in

the Manufacturing Industry”. • The main focus of the study was to find out the impact of various factors on efficiency, productivity and profitability in the manufacturing firms. • Although safety and health was not the focus of the study. the conclusion drawn was lost personnel time and management policies and procedures • Taylor’s study broadened OHS issues and movement in the U.S.


• In 1907, the U.S. Department of Interior created The Bureau of Mines This development came after over 3000 workers were killed in mining accidents in that year alone (1907).• Despite the resistance by some states that some Workers’ Comp. Laws were

unconstitutional, there was, however, a consensus in 1916 when Congress declared that all state WC laws to be constitutional • Today all 50 states, including Puerto Rico and other territories have some form of WC laws to provide benefits to a wide range of workers. We will examine WC schemes later in the course.• The passage of WC laws became a new way of re-thinking about safety and

health at workplaces - i.e. accidents or hazardous conditions are preventable • See OSHA website: these initiatives have reduced workplace accidents!!


• Technological advances and progress in industry • Technological progress in industry also took care of safety and health aspects of machinery and products • (1) Air brakes and automatic couplers • (2) machine guards (lockout & tagout programs) – Steel industry and railroads were at the forefront of advancing safety and health aspects

• Influence of insurance companies: Insurance premiums were based on the rates of accidents and hazardous conditions industries had • Insurance companies hired safety and health inspectors to audit the industry before subscribing them as clients • Insurance industry devised methods to keep records of accidents for their clients

• Influence of professional societies: The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) was created in 1911 to advance professional activities and programs for safety engineers; The National Safety Council (NSC) was created in 1912 to prevent industrial accidents; The American Standards Association (ASA) - now known as ANSI – American National Standard Institute was created in 1920 to establish standards and codes for safety


• Laws and regulations (non-voluntary requirements): Safety awareness has risen to the highest point now following these important legislations – OSH-Act (1970); Federal Mines Act 1977; CERCLA of 1980 followed by the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (1986); The clean Air Act of 1970 was followed by the major amendments in 1977 and 1990

• Voluntary requirements Total Safety Management & Quality Systems evolved in the 1990’s (1996)

• The U.S. firms adopted ISO 14000 (Registration for EMS – environmental management systems) » Business trends of the 1990’s » Environmental trends of the 1980’s • Understand key business and environmental drivers affecting the industry

• During this time, the U.S. firms also adopted ISO 9000 Quality management systems (QMS)• And most recently, ISO 18000: OHSAS 18001 [general referred to as OHSAS 18000 or even

ISO 18000] is an occupational health and safety management [or assurance] system standard


• Several tragedies have also changed the face of the safety movement in the U.S. • • The following are examples of these workplace safety and health tragedies • Hawk’s Nest Tragedy (West Virginia) • Asbestos Menace • Bhopal Disasters • Love Canal Tragedy in the Niagara Falls


• Hawk’s Nest Tragedy (West Virginia) • Economic depression of the 1930’s directly responsible for creating more awareness on the diseases affecting workers e.g. silicosis• People laid off as a result of depression couldn’t get new jobs because physicals showed

they had lung infections due to breathing of silica (sand containing silica dust) • A construction company contracted to drill passageway through a mountain located in

Hawk’s Nest Region, WV; let workers spend too much time in the tunnel 10-14 hrs/day – and as a result, breathing dust and soils (high silica) leading people to contract silicosis• Insurance agencies issued notices that all prospective employees should undergo

physicals to avoid future liabilities•


• Hawk’s Nest Tragedy (West Virginia): Silicosis is a respiratory disease that may have a latency period of between 20-30 years to show up in exposed workers. • At the end of the project many people had died. The company buried dead employees in the nearby fields. • This tragedy became public as a result of a story published for the Gauley Bridge disaster entitled “Hawks Nest” by Hubert Skidmore.• The lawsuits and insurance claims and requirements for physicals – showing laid off

workers to have positive results in their physicals for silicosis disease - generated public interests in silicosis. The Hawk’s Nest Tragedy solidified these people’s opinions and influenced policy changes in the occupational safety and health issues! - Public outcry forced Congress to respond, making silicosis a workmen’s compensated disease • Today silicosis is still a problem to dust-producing industries such as foundries, cement, mining, etc. • At least 1 million U.S. employees are exposed; 250 die/yr due to the silica exposure.


• Asbestos and its Miracles • Asbestos was a miracle fiber when it was discovered. • It was used in the construction industry as a roofing and an insulating material • Asbestos was being used everywhere – homes, schools, offices, factories, ships, filters of cigarettes etc. • In 1964, Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, broke the news of the “association between

exposure to asbestos and its biological effects” • This “news changed how the world and the Americans viewed asbestos and also other workplace hazards• Studies by Dr. Irving Selikoff during the years that followed (1967-1986) on about

18000 workers who had been exposed to asbestos showed lung-cancer, gastrointestinal tract larynx, pharynx, kidneys, pancreas, gall bladder and the bile duct of workers • In 1970, asbestos became a controlled substances. Standards and regulation governing its use were put in place


• The Bhopal Tragedy • In December 1984, over 40 tons of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) and other lethal gases, including hydrogen cyanide leaked from a reactor in Bhopal India and killed at least 3000 people (workers and neighborhood community) • The owner of the Factory was Union Carbide of the United States• Why put up the plant in India? lack of stringent safety and health standards and

less or non–enforceable regulations • The company was charged with – criminal negligence, corporate prejudice and avoidance • In February 1989, India’s supreme court ordered Union Carbide to pay $470 million in damages


• The Love Canal Episodes of Hazardous Wastes Dumping • Love Canal is an area located Niagara Falls, NY. It became a focus of attention after the discovery of 21000 tons of toxics wastes • Coverage: About 36 square blocks in the southeastern corner of the city (between 99th Street and Read Avenue).

• What is Love Canal? • Love Canal is a section of the Niagara Falls, NY near the Niagara river. • The canal was part of William Love’s 1892 vision for a sprawling industrial city from hydro-power. • After alternating current (a.c.) was developed in the mid 1890’s, investors of the Love Canal pulled out and William Love never completed the project.

• The areas around the canal served as recreation areas (swimming and skating) – But around 1920s, the canal became a dumping site for the municipality of Niagara Falls

• In the 1940s:Hooker Chemical and Plastics Company realized this was an ideal place to dump their chemical wastes. Hooker Chemical and Plastics Company paid for it by 1947.


• The School Board of Niagara approached Hooker Chemical Corp. for part of the land around Love Canal for a new school and a park.

• After much negotiations: Hooker sold the land for $1 (One Dollar) telling the new owners about the dump underneath. The 99th Street School is constructed directly on top of the canal in 1953 and houses are build around the school.

• The rain comes…and problems… • Niagara Falls has a very high water table and 1977 was an unusually rainy year. • Residents began to notice chemicals leeching into their basements. • The EPA analyzed nearby basements and found benzene, a serious health risk as well as other chemicals such as chloroform.

• The community reacts: a very scared community panicked for the implications of the chemicals to children. • Since there was never such a chemical spill before, the government has no idea what to do. • After many discussions, the federal government in 1978 relocated residents affected. The canal was remediated and capped so no chemical would leech out.


• Chemicals found in the basements of some homes: 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-pdioxin • benzenehexachlorides • tetrachlorobenzenes • dichlorobenzenes • pentachlorbenzene • polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) • chloroform • benzene • methylene chloride • lindane (hexachlorcyclohexane) • tetrachloroethylenes • Trichloroethylene; DDT; Toluene• In 1978, Ms. Louis Gibbs, a resident in the area found a “Love Canal Homeowners

Association” • As president of the organization, Louis Gibbs made the following remarks: • There is probably a connection between “exposure to chemicals and the recurring diseases of her children such as epilepsy, asthma, and urinary infection”.


• Louis Gibbs book “Love Canal: The story Continues…” As you may conclude: • (1) Love Canal came to be known as the nation’s most notorious dumping of toxic wastes in history • (2) The Occidental Chemical Corporation – who had owned the company before Hooker’s paid 129 million dollars as clean up costs • (3) The CERCLA of 1980 or Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 were two “big” legislations that resulted from this tragedy!• By 1981: clean up costs close to 40 million dollars – include relocation costs but less

suffering by families and relatives • At least 3 billion $ had been by filed as lawsuits


safety and health and environmental in the U.S. and world today and into the future

• Safety, health and environmental laws are perhaps the most stringent in the U.S. than any other country in the world• Series of laws, regulations and standards implemented by (i) EPA for general

environmental (drinking water; surface water; ground water; solid waste disposal; clean air; pestcides etc); (ii) OSHA for workplace safety, health and environment: exposure guidelines; machinery safety standards and regulations etc; (iii) MSHA – Mines Safety and Health Administration; (iv) FDA; (v) NRC etc….

safety and health and environmental in the U.S. and world today and into the future

• Safety, health and environmental laws are perhaps the most stringent in the U.S. than any other country in the world: laws, regulations and standards implemented by • (i) EPA for general environmental (drinking water; surface water; ground water;

solid waste disposal; clean air; pesticides etc); • (ii) OSHA for workplace safety, health and environment: exposure guidelines;

machinery safety standards and regulations etc; • (iii) MSHA – Mines Safety and Health Administration;• (iv) FDA; • (v) NRC etc….

safety and health and environmental in the U.S. and world today and into the future (note: there will be an online discussion forum assignment based on Janet and Tom’s arguments below)

• we may have improvement in safety and health BUT despite the technological advancements today, we still may have safety and health problems in the workplace (depends on how you look at it?): See the arguments below by safety and health students (Tom and Janet) in the class “Introduction to Safety and Health” who are debating on the issue of corporate responsibility in the wake of industrial advancement; modern technology (including the internet); people’s interactions etc.

• Tom’s arguments: Tom argues that industry has clearly demonstrated its unwillingness over many years to provide a safe, healthy work environment for employees. Tom offers some examples such as those listed in the tragedies above: Gauley Bridge incident of silicosis famously known as “The Hawk’s Nest Tragedy”.

• Janet arguments: Janet agrees that industry has had an undisputable pattern that supports Tom’s observations. Janet, however, thinks that employers have learned that their workforce is an asset and needs to be protected by all means from accidents. Tom’s response to Janet’s views is that “Take away federal and state mandates, and industry would return to their old ways of doing things (negligence) in less than a year”. Please join the debate (see appropriate question in the HW assignment. What is your opinion. No right or wrong answer – but at least you have to discuss this question in light of the lectures 1-2!!

oshe 111 lecture # 2 historical perspective and milestones in oshe presented by dr. ephraim massawe

Documents

workers safety

safety issuesafety

safety manager

hat of safety

health movement

health programs

health related

health engineers