Throughout history, the health and safety movement has been affected by legislation. In the following safety and health timeline, notable events, individuals, and legislative actions are set forth to illustrate the point that the safety professional/practitioner is and has been an important part of those preventative experiences that make up the history of life.
The ancient Chinese (c. 2500 BC) spread the risk of loss by placing 1/6 of their harvest on each of six boats traveling to market.
Hammurabi (c. 2000 BC), ruler of Babylon, was responsible for the Code of Hammurabi, part of which resembles today’s workers’ compensation laws.
The ancient Egyptians (from 1600 BC) recognized the dangers of breathing the fumes produced by the fusion of silver and gold.
Hippocrates (c 460-c 377 BC), the father of contemporary medicine, established a link between the respiratory problems of Greek stonemasons and the rock dust that surrounded them.
In ancient Rome, the few slaves who survived the dangerous task of launching a ship were given their freedom.
In 1601, the first English statute on “insurance” (an earlier term for insurance) was enacted. This statute covered maritime risks.
In 1667, the Great Fire of London (September 2-7, 4666) caused the first English fire insurance laws to be enacted.
In 1700, Bernardino Ramazzini, an Italian physician, published the first thesis that tried to prove the connections between occupation and disease.
In 1730, Benjamin Franklin organized the first firefighting company in the United States and detected symptoms of lead poisoning with Dr. Evans.
In 1775, English doctors discovered that chimney sweeps, who were exposed to coal tar residue in their daily work, had a higher incidence of cancer than the general population.
In 1792, the first charter for marine and fire insurance was issued in the United States.
In 1812, the War of 1812 Embargo stimulated the development of the New England textile industry and the founding of mutual factory companies. These early insurance companies inspected properties for hazards and suggested loss prevention and control methods to ensure low rates for their policyholders.
In 1864, the Pennsylvania Mining Safety Act (PMSA) was enacted.
In 1864, the first accident insurance policy in North America was issued.
In 1867, the state of Massachusetts instituted the first government-sponsored factory inspection program.
In 1877, the state of Massachusetts passed a law requiring the protection of dangerous machinery and assumed the authority to enforce factory inspection programs.
In 1878, the first recorded call by a labor organization for federal occupational safety and health law was heard.
In 1896, an association to prevent fires and write codes and standards, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), was founded.
In 1902, the state of Maryland passed the first workers’ compensation law.
In 1904, the first attempt by a state government to force employers to compensate their employees for on-the-job injuries was nullified when the Supreme Court declared Maryland’s workers’ compensation law unconstitutional.
On March 21, 1911, in the Asch Building in New York City, nearly 150 women and girls died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire due to blocked fire exits and inadequate fire suppression systems. A major turning point in history, this fire changed government regulation and laws instituted to protect workers.
In 1911, a professional and technical organization responsible for developing safety codes for boilers and elevators, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), was founded. Security Code A17 published.
1911-1915, during this five-year period, 30 states passed workers’ compensation laws.
On October 14, 1911, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) was founded in New York City. Originally called the United Society of Accident Inspectors. ASSE was dedicated to the development of accident prevention techniques and the advancement of safety engineering as a profession.
The California Railroad Commission, now known as the California Public Utilities Commission, was created by a constitutional amendment to oversee rail safety, including highway/rail crossing safety.
In 1912, a group of engineers representing insurance companies, industry, and government met in Milwaukee to exchange data on accident prevention. The organization formed at this meeting would become the National Security Council (NSC). (Today, the NSC conducts major safety campaigns for the general public, as well as assists industry in developing safety promotion programs.)
In 1916, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state workers’ compensation laws.
In 1918 the American Standards Association was founded. Responsible for the development of many voluntary safety standards, some of which are mentioned in law, today it is now called the American National Standards Institute. [ANSI].
In 1931 the Uniform Traffic Code was established due to the increase in the speed and volume of motor vehicle traffic and accidents. The code consists of four separate laws: motor vehicle registration, driver’s licenses, automobile anti-theft, and uniform traffic regulations.
In 1936, Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, called for a federal job safety and health law. This action came a full 58 years after the first recorded request by organized labor for a law of this nature.
In 1936, the Walsh-Healey (Public Contracts) Act was passed. This law required that all federal contracts be performed in a safe and healthy work environment.
By 1948, every state (48 at the time) now had workers’ compensation laws.
In 1952, the Coal Mine Safety Act (CMSA) was passed.
In 1960, specific safety regulations for the Walsh-Healey Act were enacted.
On January 3, 1961, an accident at an experimental nuclear reactor at a federal facility near Idaho Falls, ID, kills three workers. These were the first fatalities in US nuclear reactor operations.
In 1966, the Metallic and Non-Metallic Mine Safety Act (MNMSA) was passed.
In 1966, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and its branches, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were established.
In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson called for a federal job safety and health law.
In 1969, the Construction Safety Act (CSA) was passed.
In 1969, the Board of Certified Security Professionals (BCSP) was established. This organization certifies professionals in the security profession.
In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) into law, creating the OSHA administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
In 1970, on January 1, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed. This provided a national charter to protect and improve the environment and created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
On May 29, 1971, the first OSHA standards were adopted to provide a baseline for safety and health protection in American workplaces.
In 1972, the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) was enacted.
In 1976, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was passed and became the instrument by which hazardous waste management is regulated.
In 1980, to address the problems of hazardous waste management, the Pollution Liability Insurance Association (PLIA) was formed.
January 16, 1981 OSHA updates commercial electrical standards to simplify compliance and take a performance approach.
1991 North Carolina plant fire kills 25 workers and 49 are injured at the Imperial chicken processing plant in Hamlet NC. Employees were trapped inside due to padlocked doors meant to keep vandals out.
September 11, 2001, 2,886 work-related deaths, including 537 rescue workers, as a result of terrorist attacks on the New York City World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the crashing planes.
