Safety and Sanitary Conditions of Industrial Enterprises of the Middle Volga in the Late XIX – Early XX Centuries

Abstract

Introduction. The acceleration of the processes of industrial modernization, observed in the late XIX – early XX centuries, led to the formation of an industrial environment that inevitably had a negative impact on humans. In these conditions the task of monitoring by the authorities the situation at industrial enterprises in terms of the development of certain indicators and standards in the field of protecting the life and health of workers, as well as the responsibility of entrepreneurs for their non-compliance, was updated. In this paper an attempt was made to consider the situation of workers employed at large industrial enterprises of the Middle Volga region in the late XIX – early XX centuries, from the standpoint of ensuring safety and sanitary standards, as well as measures taken by business, public and state structures to neutralize the harmful effects techno genic environment on the health of industrial workers. Methods. To solve the tasks set, we used elements of the methods of socio-institutional and legal analysis, which allowed us to consider the object of study in a wide range of socio-economic and institutional-legal relations. The use of modernization theory allowed us to include the activities carried out in the late XIX – early XX centuries to ensure safety and sanitary standards at industrial enterprises in the trend of industrial modernization at the level of social sub-processes. Results. Based on a study of archival and published sources, as well as available scientific literature on the topic, the process of institutionalization and the formation of a legal base for activities to monitor compliance with industrial safety and sanitary standards in the late XIX – early XX centuries was considered. The analysis of the situation of workers in the factories of the provinces of the Middle Volga in terms of labor safety and sanitary conditions. The activities of the factory inspection to identify violations of established rules and standards, as well as the investigation of accidents with industrial workers associated with inadequate security and non-compliance with safety measures, are investigated. Discussion and Conclusion. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, a system of public and state control over safety measures and sanitary conditions at industrial enterprises was formed in Russia. And the most important role was given to the factory inspection institute. At the same time there was a process of developing a regulatory framework and technical regulations designed to provide support for such activities. All this made possible to achieve certain successes in this area, which were the result of efforts undertaken by society and state institutions. Nevertheless, in the field of ensuring safety and sanitary standards, a large number of problems remained at the industrial enterprises of the Middle Volga provinces. This is evidenced, in particular, by the growth of industrial injuries in the factories and plants of the Middle Volga Region supervised by factory inspections, which was observed at the beginning of the 20th century. However, for the most part this was due to an increase in the number of industrial enterprises and workers employed by them, the complication of technical and technological processes, as well as an increase in labor intensification. At the same time, the positive results achieved in ensuring the safety of industrial labor are evidenced by a significant decrease in the number of fatal accidents. In many respects, this was the result of the activities of the factory inspection, which insistently demanded that the owners of factories take the necessary measures to ensure safety and sanitary standards when organizing industrial work and punishable for violation of applicable rules.