I'm a Safety Girl

When you think about safety in the workplace it's hard to believe that OSHA (Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration) didn't exist until 1970. Not 1870. 1970. So, you just took your chances every day you went to work. You breathed in toxic fumes (mad as a hatter), asbestos dust, cotton dust. You were exposed to lead and benzene. You died in grain elevator explosions. You handled known carcinogens and were exposed to radiation without protection. It seems hard to believe but that's exactly what happened to people EVERY day. Statistics were cited by a champion of OSHA, Rep. William Steiger, who reported that in the 25 years preceding 1970 there were 400,000 Americans KILLED in work related accidents and illnesses, and 50,000,000 (yes, 50 MILLION people -in 25 years) who suffered disabling injuries.

I mention this background because as the instructors go through all of the safety protocols in class they seems excessive. Almost over the top. But now I see why they are so stringent. The workplace before OSHA was dangerous. And it was not that long ago for a 50 year old, that's the real kicker.

There are photographs in the X-ray room at Bolton of a woman's hand in the late 1800's after being exposed to radiation while she took X-rays without protection. By the fourth photo there are fingers that had to be amputated. You can see the damage to her hand throughout. For those of you with strong stomachs who would like to see another example go to http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEsQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fehs.virginia.edu%2Fehs%2Fehs.rs%2Frs.documents%2FRadiation_Safety_Training_for_Safe_Use_of_Analytical_X-Ray_Equipment.doc&ei=L092T7ngFMi-2gXDycSqDQ&usg=AFQjCNEFqB1G8TEooSq3wFhpepNtGzvaUg&sig2=YwXqHO4TxNsjM24i6DCimQ and take a look at Section 5 and what happened with one hand after ONE X-ray accident.

Now that is sobering.