No abstract

No abstract

The increasing concern of industry for the health of its employees, for the health and comfort of its neighbors in the community, and for the safety of the users of its products is evidenced by the substantial expansion of occuptional health programs, by the considerable expenditures for controlling air and water effluents, and by the ever greater involvement of industrial health personnel in the investigation and approval of industrial products before release to the public. The reasons for the growing acceptance of these responsibilities are many and varied, including the profound changes in the general social climate and attitudes, the development of governmental agencies for the enforcement of minimal standards, and the assignment of legal liability through workmen's compensation legislation and through a more liberal construction by the courts with respect to the safety of products offered to the public. In the evolution of this acknowledgment of responsibility by industry we should recognize that many companies often were and are ahead of the public understanding and demand, and that corrective legislation frequently was aimed at the five or ten per cent of employers who failed to meet even minimal standards of good practice.The social climate of the earlier decades of the industrial revolution, of course, bears little relation to that of our present industrialized society. Whatever the iduences which have brought about the change in attitude, there are few employers or members of industrial management who are not cognizant of the increasing acceptance by the public of the concept that the prime purpose of industry is to serve all the people. A few decades ago such an idea would have been regarded as revolutionary. The development of industry in an era when this mechanism had a different significance, when the characteristics of effectiveness and success were judged on a different basis, has resulted in certain residuals which seem to be or are made to appear at times inconsistent with the newer emphasis on social purpose. The fact that in our economy an industry must make a profit in order to survive sometimes seems to be overlooked in the promotion of other ends, justified or not. For example, in some instances there is a real conflict between the holding down of costs to assure a profit and the providing of a safe and healthful industrial environment. In other cases, the controls required to meet community demands for the suppression of air or water pollution may actually preclude the operation of a plant in a particular location or in a marginal profit industry. The wide permutation and combination of circumstances involved in the potential harmful effects of industrialization, ranging from serious injury for many people to minor 779

No abstract

No abstract