![]() ![]() In 1970 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established to monitor and record workplace accidents and injuries. It wasn’t until after World War II and the growth of powerful labor unions in the United States, that safe workplace conditions became an issue that led to legislative action. Safety was less important on work sites during strong economic times as companies pushed productivity while trading off on workplace safety. Strauss, a safety visionary, strove to create safer work conditions by installing construction safety nets and requiring hard hats to be worn while on the job site.īut work site safety issues and injury rates rose and fell during the Great Depression and during World War II with employee turnover and economic booms. In 1933, during construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, construction workers were required to wear hard hats, by order of Joseph Strauss, chief project engineer. During the construction of the Hoover Dam in 1931, hard hat use was mandated by Six Companies, Inc. Bullard Company, a mining equipment firm, designed and patented a “hard-boiled hat” made of steamed canvas, glue and black paint. ![]() Workers who labored on the construction of The Empire State Building didn’t have the benefit of modern safety regulations or equipment. In 1910 New York State was the first state to pass a Worker’sĬompensation Law that set fixed rates of compensation for injuries on the job.Īfter this initial first step, 44 states passed workers comp laws between 1911Īnd 1921. World War I, nations equipped millions of their soldiers with combat helmets,īut failed to see a need for similar protection for construction workers back Wore safety headgear in construction or mining operations. Photo: NYC Public Library.ĭuring the 19th century and throughout the 1930s, laborers rarely Two workers in the days before safety helmets.An iron worker on site of the Empire State Building.At the end of the 1900s, the International Union of Ironworkers would emerge from concern for safety on the job and the lack of protection for workers. The mortality rate of iron workers was the highest of all building trades, and they would be lucky to go 10 years without a serious or fatal injury. The cranes were used to hoist steel girders into place, and the iron workers used rivets to connect the girders to the columns of a structure. A worker straddles a beam during the construction of The Empire State Building. With the rise of the industrial revolution and steam power, the use of crane use in construction became commonplace. ![]() At that time, for about two dollars per day, a worker could risk his life on high structures. In the late 19th Century, steel had virtually replaced wood and stone as the primary building material in the erection of bridges and buildings. Children routinely worked in nearly every field of manual labor until 1938 when The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed and a minimum working age of 16 years old was established. There were no generalized requirements for construction safety, or fall protection netting on construction projects. A worker during the construction of The Empire State Building.Two construction workers work without safety equipment in 1929.But only because workers fought for the institution of safety requirements in industries such as mining, steel production, construction and general manufacturing. Work site safety has dramatically changed and been improved in the last 100 years. A crane being inspected during the construction of 1 World Trade Center. ![]()
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