Human societies have endeavored to ensure the Health and safety of their workers for centuries. Doctors in ancient Greece raised concerns over lead and other dangerous materials to which miners were routinely exposed. Later, the Roman senator Pliny the Elder alerted citizens to the dangers of sulfur and zinc. He recommended miners cover their mouths and noses with animal bladders – one of the first examples of industrial respiratory protection.
In the 15th Century, Austrian physician Ulrich Ellenbog published a treatise on the dangers that mercury and asbestos posed to laborers and the correlation of these and other metals with lung disease.
About 1700, Italian physician Bernardo Ramazzini – today known as the Father of Occupational Medicine – published his findings on the topic of occupational disease. He famously urged other doctors to ask their patients “What is your trade?”, drawing a definite link between the typical conditions of … Read more...
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