People have been practicing the fundamentals of occupational hygiene in Australia for well over 100 years. As industrialisation progressed through the 1900s, so did our understanding in worker health and understanding the hazards, diseases and injuries workers often faced. Workers became more vocal in rejecting unacceptable working conditions and the prevention of damage to workers by accident or industrial disease. 

Here are a few critical milestones in the history of occupational hygiene:

  • 1894: Australia’s first-ever occupational health inspector appointed in South Australia
  • 1921: Division of Industrial Hygiene is established
  • 1942: National Health and Medical Research Council established
  • 1985: National Occupational Health and Safety Commission established. 
Research around occupational health was being undertaken in Australia throughout the 1900s, with the early precursors to Silicosis in miners detected as early as 1911 in Western Australia. In 1919 and 1920 miners went on strike to protest against their exposure to harmful dusts, which was instrumental in the development of unions and subsequent drafting of government health policies to protect worker health.  Employers, employees and governments today have a much greater understanding of the potential health impacts of a workplace, with the field of occupational hygiene continues to develop with ongoing changes to legislation, standards, and measurement methods. Interestingly, workplace health issues from the early 20th century continue to be faced in the current day.  We’ve recently discovered two articles from The Queensland Industrial Gazette in the GCG archives, dated December 1922 and January 1925, which provide a unique snapshot of the occupational hygiene industry at that time. The articles discuss the importance of ventilation, the use of artificial and natural illumination, and the safe management of poisons – all of which are topics relevant to occupational hygiene in today’s workplace. Occupational hygiene, as a discipline and profession, only provides values if it helps to achieve safer and healthier workplaces. As technology advances and methods of measurement become increasingly sophisticated, methods such as real-time monitoring are now readily available but becoming regular practice. Even with the continued evolution of this important field over the last one hundred years, one factor remains the same – at the end of the day, our fundamental purpose is to keep workers safe.   

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News & Media

The real-time dust monitoring driving change

Real-time dust monitoring has really come into its own in the last few years. The ubiquity of real-time monitoring devices and the recent emergence of intelligent dust exposure control applications and platforms like GCG’s ‘Exposi’ system have taken monitoring and management of dust exposure to a new level. Hygienists and safety professionals now have the ability to make smarter, faster decisions around dust control management. Real-time hardware devices capture data…
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News & Media

The rise of fixed point real-time dust monitoring 

Increased awareness of silicosis and other occupational lung diseases caused by exposure to hazardous levels of respirable crystalline silica has prompted employers and workers to seek ways to reduce the potential for worker exposure to hazardous dust. This has driven a rise in the uptake of dust monitoring technologies including Remote Real-time Dust Monitoring (Fixed Point Monitoring) in workplaces across Australia. In Australia, silicosis has been known to cause…
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News & Media

How can a work health and safety management system help my business?

A work health safety management system (WHSMS) A WHSMS is a systems-based approach to help companies manage their work health and safety risks and maintain compliance with current legislative requirements. What is a work health and safety management system? A WHSMS is a collective set of procedures, plans, and associated documents that align with business operations and support the process of managing workplace health and safety.
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News & Media

Is your WA principal mining hazard management plan up to date?

The terms and definitions used in reference to ‘principal mining hazards’ vary across Australia. In Western Australia new Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws and accompanying regulations came into effect on 31 March 2022, introducing a meaning for, and a list of, principal mining hazards (PMHs). While it’s likely your risk management framework already identifies principal mining hazards, they may not be addressed as comprehensively as…
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News & Media

What’s next on the journey to eliminate silicosis?

The re-emergence of occupational lung diseases across Australia, such as silicosis and coal worker pneumoconiosis, has received significant focus from industry, regulators, and unions alike. Since 2016, a series of government reviews, task forces, and parliamentary inquiries have identified gaps in hazard awareness, compliance, and regulatory frameworks relating to airborne dust. These documents also identify that preventing occupational lung disease is a complex problem to solve. Occupational…
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