HISTORY

and PHILOSOPHY of
LOSS CONTROL
 Overview
• Historical Background
• Milestones
• Early Attitudes on Safety and Loss Control
• Lessons Learned
 Historical Background
Code of Hammurabi
(King of Babylonia 2200 BC)
 If a builder build a house for a man and do not
make its construction firm and the house which he
has built collapse and cause the death of the owner
of the house – that builder shall be put to death.
 If it cause the death of the son of the owner of the
house – they shall put to death a son of that builder.
 If it cause the death of a slave of the owner of the
house – he shall give to the owner of the house a
slave of equal value.
 If it destroys property, he shall restore
whatever it destroyed, and because he did
not make the house which he built firm and
it collapsed, he shall rebuild the house
which collapsed at his own expense.
 If a builder build a house for a man and do
not make its construction meet the
requirements and a wall fall in, that builder
shall strengthen the wall at his own
expense.
Industrial revolution – 1837
The extensive use of power machinery
initially imported from England during a
time referred to as the Industrial Revolution
ushered in a period of work deaths and
disability never seen before or since.
The greatest upsurge in industrial growth occurred around
1880 with the rapid increase of steel production.
Weaving machines & eqpt. (slow hand) – steam and later by
electricity
Labor was untrained and unskilled.
 The worker’s plight – 1900
- 11 to 13 hrs exposure to accident potential.

Public sympathy rises – labor org.

Pittsburgh Survey – 1909
(Completed at Pennsylvania)

-revealed that 526 fatal industrial accidents occurred in this

county alone during the 12 months of 1906-1907
- 30,000 fatal industrial injuries in the US in the same year
(1909)
A Demand for Change: Legislative Progress
1870 – Employer’s Liability Acts (first corrective
measures)
1897 – First true compensation act was passed by
the British Parliament
1907 – The British Act also served as a model for
the first compensation law in the US (1908)
1911 – The Compensation Law of Wisconsin (first
significant legislation in the US)
1913 – The US Dept. of Labor was created
1915 – The American Society of Safety Engrs. was
organized.
Comprehensive Federal
Law in US
1948 – all states in the
US had workmen’s
compensation laws
1970 – US Congress
passed OSHA of 1970
 Milestones

 Compensation Act - England 1897

 Compensation Law - U.S. 1911

 Workmen’s Compensation Act - Canada 1915

 U.S. Congress Passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
 Common Law
 The employee Contributed to the cause of the accident.

 Another employee contributed to the cause of the accident.

 The employee knew of the hazards involved in the accident
before the injury was sustained and still agreed to work in the
condition for pay.

 There was no employer negligence.

 Early Attitudes on Safety
• “I don’t have money for frills like safety.”

• “Some people are just accident prone and no matter what you do, they hurt
themselves some way.”

• “We’re not in business for safety.”

 Positive Attitudes

 “Safety doesn’t require extra time. On the other hand, unsafe

practices, particularly those resulting in injuries and property
damage, are time-consuming and costly.”

 “The main reason for success in safety is the day-by-day and

hour-by-hour consistency with which you apply the principles of
our safety program.”
 The End…

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