Dr. Alice Hamilton's Impact
Hamilton's research about workplace conditions created political change when laws were implemented to uphold basic safety standards and protect workers in case of accidents. Most notably, she influenced the 1970 passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act,a federal labor law which protects workers to this day.
State and Federal Legislation
Much valuable material concerning industrial disease was assembled; and [Hamilton's] plethora of data helped convince legislators that some positive steps should be taken to prevent industrial disease, to give medical care to the disabled workers, and to give disabled workers some chance to collect damages in certain instances." Alice Hamilton used her influence among political figures Eleanor Roosevelt and Frances Perkins to promote worker safety, ultimately legitimizing the field of occupational health in America. In 1944, the Public Health Service was reestablished, officially recognizing the protection of public health as a federal responsibility.
Great reforms in industrial hygiene have been brought about by the joint effort of physicians and legislators. Far from being ignored, industrial medicine is now one of the most important medical branches, and hundreds of doctors choose it as their specialty.” "Off by train to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, for the Chi Omega Award, given every year to a woman who has proved her ability to be of use to mankind. In this case it is richly deserved by Dr. Alice Hamilton, who holds a professorship in Harvard Medical College, which accepts an outstanding woman as a professor and rejects women students!" |
Hamilton's investigations produced direct legislation aimed at preventing the unsafe use of toxins in the workplace. Workers now could demand compensation after being harmed by industrial toxins. Thus, Hamilton broke barriers that prevented employee health and safety and empowered workers to demand better conditions.
The industries to which Hamilton applied her unique expertise underwent dramatic change as a result. After her yearlong lead study in Illinois, the state passed a law that compensated workers for harmful exposure to noxious gases, dusts, and fumes... By 1937, most of the states carrying the country's largest industrial burdens had adopted legislative requirements that workers had to be paid for being poisoned." Personal interview with Dr. Joseph Brain (2020)
In the future, it seems to me that public health is going to be increasingly important to the nations of the world. If a whole community does not live under sanitary conditions, no one in the community is entirely safe. Therefore, it is important that the average man and woman in this country recognize the need for the public health service, back it with enthusiasm, and comply with all government regulations.” |
Occupational Safety and Health Act
Hamilton's extensive research and numerous publications caused the fields of occupational health and industrial toxicology to be recognized in America. As a determined pioneer in these fields, Dr. Alice Hamilton broke barriers to protect workers and educate employers on a national scale. Due to her efforts, the federal government recognized the need for a national program to protect employees.
“[Hamilton's] work gave rise to three differentiated specialties within the field of occupational health and safety: occupational medicine, industrial toxicology, and industrial hygiene, now called occupational hygiene. And we’ve made tremendous progress in each of those areas.” The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), passed in 1970, three months after Hamilton's death, ensured safe working conditions for all workers in America. This landmark legislation was Hamilton's most significant impact, enabling workers to perform their jobs without worrying about disastrous threats to their health and safety. It was signed into law by President Nixon, who had written Hamilton a telegram on her 100th birthday congratulating her work.
"A 3-page telegram from President Nixon commemorat[ed] her 100th birthday...[and] 'her lasting contributions to the wellbeing of our people and of men and women everywhere.'" Audio: "Key Remarks of President Nixon at the OSHA Signing Ceremony 1970 (YouTube)
Video: "Key Remarks of President Nixon at the OSHA Signing Ceremony 1970" (YouTube)
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"The six decades that separated [Hamilton's] entry into industrial medicine in 1910 and her death in 1970 saw the condition of the worker evolve from that of a being of lead-coated lungs for whom even a set of lead coveralls was considered too extravagant a company expense to a closely monitored human federally protected by the Occupational Safety and Health Act." "Alice Hamilton Birthday Commemoration 1994 by Joe Dear, OSHA" (YouTube)
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