Over the years, health and safety laws have been introduced and built upon to improve the standards of workplace safety. Beginning as early as the 1830s and continuing today, in this blog, we dive into a brief summary of the history of health and safety.
1800s
Factory inspectorates were installed in 1833 as part of the first nationwide legislation. It was initially brought in to prevent child labour and injury but, being the first time that external rules were governing employee safety, it revolutionised workplace safety.
Thanks to the factory inspectorates, a mines inspectorate was formed in the 1840s, and quarry inspectorate formed in 1895. These acts advanced the movement of workplace health and safety, and paved the way for changes that came in the future.
1950s
Farms and agriculture saw huge change in 1956 with the introduction of the Safety, Health and Welfare Provisions Act 1956. Following on from the regulations previously established through the 1800s, it reduced the number of accidents and minimised the spread of disease.
1959 then saw the beginning of the Nuclear Installations Act, which ensured standards and safety procedures were in place to be followed when nuclear bombs were beginning to be introduced.
1974
The Health and Safety Act UK 1974 was the next major implementation in health and safety history. It was legislation of best practice introduced for employers to ensure the health and safety of their employees. It also listed the responsibilities of employees for their own safety, and the safety of their colleagues.
Health and safety training in every workplace is now mandatory, in large part due to this act. It has outlined provisions for various industries and risks, and criminal sanctions are now allowed to be given in the ignorance of the act.
As a result of this act and the adaptations thereafter, the number of fatal injuries to employees in the UK fell by 73%, and non-fatal injuries fell by 70%.
Recent Years
The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations Act was then introduced in 1977, followed by the Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1980. In 1984, The Asbestos Licencing Regulations Act was put into place once it was realised just how dangerous asbestos can be. In fact, the list goes on.
Since the major implementation of the Health and Safety Act 1974, many more updates have been brought to the world of health and safety, all of which can be found in full on the HSE’s website.
Stay Safe with Label Source
With more job roles being created every day, health and safety at work remains incredibly important. At Label Source, our job is to keep you up to date with the latest safety news and to provide all the safety signage needed to keep your workplace up to date.
