compensate their employees for on-the-job injuries is overturned when the U.S. Supreme Court declares Maryland’s workers’ compensation law to be unconstitutional.

1906

First systematic survey of workplace fatalities in the United States is conducted in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

1907

Largest coal mining disaster in U.S. history takes place in Monongah, West Virginia.

1908

Alice Hamilton, M.D., the first physician to devote herself to research in industrial medicine, publishes her first article about occupational diseases in the United States.

1911

First U.S. worker’s compensation laws are enacted.

A professional, technical organization, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, responsible for developing safety codes for boilers and elevators, is founded.

National Organization for Public Health Nursing is formed.

1912

National Council for Industrial Safety is established. Originally organized to collect data and promote accident prevention programs, it became the National Safety Council in 1913.

1913

Industrial nurses registry is established in Boston.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes data that show a rate of 61 industrial deaths per 100,000 workers.

1914

The U.S. Public Health Service establishes the Office of Industrial Hygiene and Sanitation. Its primary function is research in occupational health. After several name changes it became the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in 1971.

1916

The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of state workers’ compensation laws.

The American Association of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons is formed. It later became the American Occupational Medicine Association, then the American College of Occupational Medicine, and finally, in 1991, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

1917

First industrial nursing course is offered at Boston University College of Business Administration.

1918

The American Standards Association is founded. Responsible for the development of many voluntary safety standards, some of which are referenced into laws, today it is known as the American National Standards Institute.

1919

Alice Hamilton, M.D., is appointed assistant professor of industrial medicine at Harvard Medical School, the first woman to be on the faculty of Harvard University.

First book on industrial nursing is written by Florence Wright.