Public Health Reform in the U.S.

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the dangerous trades and public health reforms in the United States. The paper examines Alice Hamilton's contribution to improving workplace environments by looking at her autobiography, "Exploring the Dangerous Trades: The Autobiography of Alice Hamilton, M.D." The paper describes the outcome of her work, such as the establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which prevents worker abuse and protects American citizens from harmful work environments.

From the Paper:

"A rapidly industrializing American economy was a major factor in the poor worker conditions of nineteenth century America (Henig, 1997). Alice Hamilton and her contemporaries were working with industries that had not previously existed and products that had not previously been made. Zierdt-Warshaw, Winkler, & Bernstein (2000) found that Hamilton investigated the hazards of mining, as well as working with paint, dyes, rayon fabric, explosive materials, and rubber, among other things. These products were relatively new and businessmen were eager to exploit them. Also new to America were the thousands of immigrants who came to America in the nineteenth century. These immigrants often came with limited skills and language. As such, they were often asked to do the jobs that no one else would. Like the products they worked with, immigrants were also exploited by businessmen aiming to make a profit (Sellers, 1997)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• American Chemical Society. (2006). National historic chemical landmarks: Industrial toxicology. American Chemical Society [Online]. Available: http://acswebcontent.acs.org/landmarks/landmarks/hamilton/ham4.html [2006 November 3]
• D'Orsie, S.M. (2004, August). Leadership without authority. Professional Safety, 49(8), pp. 32-35.
• Hamilton, A. (1943). Exploring the dangerous trades: The autobiography of Alice Hamilton, M.D. Boston: Little Brown and Company.
• Henig, R.M. (1997). The people's health: A memoir of public health and its evolution at Harvard. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
• Kantrov, I., Walker, H., Sicherman, B., & Green, C.H. (1983). Notable American women, the modern period: A biographical dictionary. Cambridge, MA: Belknap.

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