Hazard!
Written by Lynda Jackson Friday, 16 December 2005 15:35
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Health in the workplace over 200 years
"While they minister our necessities or please our tastes and fancies, they are impairing their health and shortening their days", English pamphlet, 1782
As the author of this 18th century pamphlet noted, work can be bad for you. A recent exhibition at the People’s History Museum, Manchester, looked at the effects of hazardous working conditions on people’s health over the last 200 years. Until the nineteenth century, ordinary people had almost no protection against work-related hazards such as industrial disease, accidents and poor working conditions. Governments and employers showed little interest in employees’ health and most workers accepted that hazards were an inevitable part of working life. With the Industrial Revolution came new technology, transport and working practices, which led to dramatic changes for working people. Faster forms of transport such as canals and railways, and the move from local cottage industry to the factories created new hazards and changed the relationship between worker and employer. During the 1830s in Britain the Factory movement began to demand limits on child labour and better protection for all workers 1). Gradually, governments began to respond to these demands, recording accidents or cases of industrial illness, ensuring compensation and appointing industrial inspectors in specific trades such as the textile industry. However, while there have been dramatic improvements in public health since the nineteenth century, hazardous working conditions continue to cause ill health to millions in Europe and beyond 2).