Safety before and Since OSHA - Research Paper Example

Unfortunately, there is a minimal amount of information available in regards to workplace safety history, because in the late 1800’s industrial labor employers simply did not care about it. Often, the risks in the 19th century were from the use of animals, ladders and hand tools. In the industrial era, steam engines were used to replace these items (Aldrich, 2010). There is no definitive example of the industrial revolution’s dangers increasing, although it is suspect that the United States was more hazardous than other countries.

This is due for the most part because of the circumstances of the country itself. Through the invention of new machinery and processes that saved time and money, these new technologies were borne from an intense need of the American people. Thus, the production techniques that were invented were both beneficial and hazardous. Anyone hurt while working or the family of a worker killed would likely sue the company for compensation for these injuries or death. Actually winning the case was nearly impossible.

The employer was often aptly able to prove that the individual understood and assumed the risks, was himself at fault for his own injury, or that another employee was at fault for the accident, because of the lack of proper documentation. Often, the court would rule in favor of the employer, leaving the employee and his family with the expenses and difficulties. This methodology proved to be invaluable to the employer, because accidents and fatalities were so cheap the industrial machinery and development required little reverence to the employees or their safety (Fishback and Kantor, 2000).

Probably the most well known as a dangerous occupation is coal mining. In the late 1800’s, the mining of coal was lucrative. Often, these men were paid by the ton of coal they were able to produce, so often safety was less important than production. Without high production rates, the miner would not receive much pay. The same holds true in the building of the railroad systems. There were few workers, the distances that needed to be traveled were immense and the trains could haul more freight than conventional methods.

These trains required men to stand between each of the cars so hook and unhook them as well as work the brake system. Given the lack of workers and the wages the few employed were paid, the railroads had to cut corners where they could, which was pay and labor. This led to poorly made railroads, few safety signals and many accidents occurring due to these conditions (Aldrich, 1997). For the majority, the response to the lack of safety was simply walking away from the job. Although there were many people interested in the safety and health of the workforce, they had no pull over any of the companies that employed workers in a hazardous job.

It was not until the Safety Appliance Act of 1893 (United States code, 1893) that safety began to take the forefront in the American labor force. Although it was small, it was a start, which subsequently allowed for the government’s establishment of new laws protecting laborers. In 1908, Congress passed a law that allowed an employee to file a claim of injury or fatality, which cost the employers 10 times what it did in the past. This increase in the costs to the company of a liability claim increased awareness and concerns for worker and workplace