Some aspects of the early evolution of the Appointed Factory Doctor service

The scholarly work of James Smiley

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Occupational health education in the United Kingdom workplace: looking backwards and going forwards? The Industrial Health Education Society at work 1922-40

Education on occupational medicine is a neglected area in the United Kingdom in terms of resources and staffing. Education on occupational health and safety is even more neglected and education in the workplace on occupational health is most neglected of all. 1944 saw the demise of the Industrial Health Education Society. This society had been established with the explicit aims of educating and informing ordinary shopfloor workers about occupational hazards and how to deal with them. The emphasis was almost exclusively on occupational health and not occupational safety. In this and indeed in several other respects the society was unique. The society functioned effectively between 1924 and 1940. Large numbers of doctors were recruited to give their time and services free to the IHES by talking to workers on occupational health topics. In this manner the society succeeded in attracting many thousands of workers to its meetings and worked without openly alienating employers, trade unions, the government, or the medical profession--a remarkable feat of diplomacy. The strengths and weaknesses of the society are charted as are the themes and issues still relevant in the 1990s. Progress in the 1980s is assessed against the background of the IHES achievements.

Andrew Malcolm and CD Purdon. Pioneers of occupational medicine in Belfast

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The certifying surgeons

The origin and work of the nineteenth century certifying surgeons is described. Their place within the broad spectrum of general practice is emphasized and their efforts to improve the welfare of children is noted.

Emergence of occupational medicine in Victorian times

Lee, W. R. (1973).British Journal of Industrial Medicine,30, 118-124. Emergence of occupational medicine in Victorian times. The events surrounding the establishment and development of legislation to protect the health of people at work in Victorian times are already well documented. This paper deals with some other aspects of the development of occupational medicine.

Medical opinions at the time did not always see the misuse of child labour as due simply to avaricious mill owners, but in part due to the parents and in part to the workmen subcontractors. The establishment of the certifying surgeons is briefly reviewed and their coming together to form an association in 1868 may be related to questions about the need for medical certificates of age which were being requested by the many factory owners brought under factory legislation for the first time in 1864 and 1867.

The plight of injured workmen and their dependents was early recognized, although it was late in the Victorian era before any statutory provision was made for them. The idea of linking compensation with preventive measures came to the fore in 1845 when some Manchester doctors, later supported by Edwin Chadwick, examined the workings at the Woodhead railway tunnel across the Pennines. When compensation legislation was passed some half a century later the idea was lost, and to this day compensation for and prevention of industrial injury and disease remain separated.

The change of industrial diseases from a medical curiosity to a problem requiring State intervention is traced over the latter part of the Victorian era.

The whole piecemeal pattern illustrating the precept that `social problems come first, social philosophy after' has persisted until the far-reaching changes in health and safety legislation of the present day.