1. To what causes can the improvements in workplace safety made to date be attributed?
Improvements in safety until now have been the result of pressure for legislation to promote safety and health, the steadily increasing costs associated with accidents and injuries, and the professionalization of safety as an occupation. Improvements in the future are likely to come as a result of greater awareness of the cost effectiveness and resultant competitiveness gained from a safe and healthy workforce.
3. Describe the circumstances that led to the development of the first organized safety program.
In 1892, the first recorded safety program was established in a Joliet, Illinois, steel plant in response to a scare caused when a flywheel exploded. Following the explosion, a committee of managers was formed to investigate and make recommendations.
5. Explain the development of the National Safety Council.
The association of Iron and Steel Electrical Engineers (AISEE), formed in the early 1900s, pressed for a national conference on safety. As a result of the AISEE’s efforts, the first meeting of the Cooperative Safety Congress (CSC) took place in Milwaukee in 1912. What is particularly significant about this meeting is that it planted the seeds for the eventual establishment of the NSC. A year after the initial meeting of the CSC, the National Council of Industrial Safety (NCIS) was established in Chicago. In 1915, this organization changed its name to the National Safety Council. It is now the premier safety organization in the United States.
7. Explain how workplace tragedies have effected the safety movement. Give examples.
Safety and health tragedies have greatly accelerated the pace of the safety movement in the United States. Three of the most significant events in the history of the safety and health movement were the Hawks Nest Tragedy, asbestos menace, and the Bhopal tragedy. The hawks nest tragedy solidified public opinion in favor of