Industrial Diseases; Symposium on Diseases of Occupation. Investication of Industrial Diseases. Health Problems in Modern Industry. State Promotion of Industrial Hygiene. Bibliography on Industrial Diseases. June, 1912. Proceedings of the Second National (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912. Excerpt: ... LEGAL PROTECTION FOR WORKERS IN UNHEALTHFUL TRADES John B. Andrews Secretary, American Association for Labor Legislation. The need of labor legislation for the protection of workers in unhealthful trades is so apparent to anyone at all familiar with the facts that argument upon the subject is unnecessary. "Factory legislation," to use the earlier English term, has aimed particularly at the protection of workers from insanitary conditions of employment. Long before any considerable number of people admitted that legal regulation of working hours and of wages was justifiable, there was very general recognition of the fact that the worker was entitled to a decently safe place in which to labor. The reasonableness of sanitary regulations as a legitimate interference with work conditions prescribed by the employer and suffered by the employee, has also been more uniformly upheld by the courts than any other kind of labor legislation. In general, certain trades are unhealthful and require regulation principally because the workrooms under ordinary conditions are likely to be poorly ventilated. More specifically, the harmful conditions of employment are frequently due to the presence of dusts, gases, vapors, and fumes; to extremes of temperature, humidity, or density of the atmosphere; and to improper lighting and overstrain. The evil results of unhealthful conditions have long been recognized, and in every industry there are humane and intelligent employers who devote much time and money to the elimination of unnecessary hazards. Whether prompted by humanitarian or commercial considerations, these advanced employers frequently provide model establishments. By their commendable efforts they also help to establish reasonable standards of comfort and safety which, ...