Hazard! Health in the workplace over 200 years.

Occupational medicine and specialist health and safety practice in the 21st century are changing rapidly. ‘Modern’ occupational diseases—psychological stress, non-specific musculoskeletal disorders, the subtle psycho-social interactions between motivation and perception of disability— absorb most of our time and professional energy. It is easy to forget that the workplace hazards that were familiar to us just 20 years ago (and still form the basis of much of the training curriculum for occupational physicians) are now rarely seen in the workplace. Pneumoconiosis, chemicalpoisoningandbyssinosis are interestingbut rare. Occupational asthma, dermatitis and death or serious injury fromindustrial accidents still occurall too frequently, but our understanding of the causes has improved, and we are less frequently involved in the basic clinical, epidemiological and occupational hygiene detective work thathelped our predecessors identify the workplace hazards. Today’s medical students barely remember deep-pit coal-mining in the UK; how long will it be before the diseases associated with twentieth century industry will be as arcane as ‘phossy jaw’? And yet if we are to make tomorrow’s workers safer, we need to learn the lessons of history. The principles of hazard identification and risk reduction do not change, even if the hazards do. As part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the University of Manchester’s academic department, 60 years after the appointment of Professor Ronald Lane to the first Chair, the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health has developed and co-organized a public exhibition with the Manchester People’s History Museum, entitled ‘Hazard! Health in the workplace over 200 years’ (Figure 1). This particular museum was chosen, in spite of its relatively small size, out of a shortlist of four in Greater Manchester because of its strong social, popular and worker-oriented outlook. The exhibition is the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health’s Diamond Jubilee contribution to the general public, and complements the medical and scientific conferences. The People’s History Museum is the national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people in Britain with galleries housed in a former Edwardian hydraulic pumping station on Bridge Street, Manchester. Apart from the ‘Hazard!’ exhibition, the museum houses an absorbing display of historical artefacts relating to working lives, including a large display about one of Manchester’s darkest hours, the Peterloo massacre. The ‘Hazard!’ exhibition covers traditional occupations and includes some of the People’s History Museum’s collection from the Department for Work and Pensions, Friendly Societies and Trade Unions on health issues (Figure 2). There are archive films, photographs and oral history recordings. As well as informing visitors of past hazards—not surprisingly for Manchester, the cotton industry is well represented—and relating important messages on reducing the risks to health from work, the exhibition includes ‘hands-on’ activities for young visitors. Children can play ‘spot the hazard’, listen to people’s memoriesof theirworking lives, dressupaschimney sweeps and explore the world of child labour through the ages. Why not play ‘Snakes and Ladders’, sliding down a long snake if you ‘forget your earplugs in a noisy workplace’ (Figure 3)? Other displays are aimed at an adult audience. There are sections on research in occupational medicine (visitors can log on to the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health’s website), archive photographs of Ronald Lane examining a worker for signs of lead poisoning, and even—to demonstrate the variety of ‘occupational’ illness and injury—the neck brace worn by Manchester City’s goal-keeper Bert Trautmann after he fractured his cervical spine in the 1956 FA Cup Final. Early respiratory protective equipment, looking like a costume from Star Wars (Figure 4), sits next to a 1970’s Trade Union poster exhorting safety in hospitals: ‘Do not leave safety to luck— make your hospital a safe workplace for everybody’s sake’. No change there, then (in 30 years). The exhibition is supplemented with schools’ programmes, including a ‘Living History’ play about a character called Maggie McCallow. Based on the famous Occupational Medicine 2005;55:337–339 doi:10.1093/occmed/kqi073