Workers Compensation: A Walk down the Memory Lane

1. Workers Compensation: A Walk Down The Memory Lane

2. Today what we observe as the OSHA Act and it's general duty clauses for employers to ensure workplace safety didn’t simply exist from the beginning of time. It took years of efforts from honest supporters of humanity to finally set things right and demand moralities concerning worker’s safety at the workplace. Nowadays when someone files for a ‘hurt at work comp’ plan, we should all know that it wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for our forefathers of justice who would have stepped up their game. Let’s take a quick glimpse of how such laws came into existence and feel the gratitude for those who never gave up the good fight. After all, it is all thanks to them that we have our rights protected in the present.

3. Roots in Ancient History Historians claim that worker compensation was not the work of the modern day man’s rational approach to take measures against workplace hazards, it was, in fact, an age-old concept adopted much earlier into civilizations. It was found that a Nippur Tablet dating back to 2050 BC and belonging to ancient Sumeria contained the Law of Ur. This law was mandated by the then King of the city-state of Ur, who was known as Ur-Nammu. According to the law, workers were compensated for particular injuries on the body parts and this also included fractures. Similarly, more of such compensation laws and their accounts can be found in Ancient Arab, Chinese, Greek, and Roman history as well.

4. Move towards Modern Laws Though with time worker compensation was forgotten entirely and only remained in history as a great Lord’s merciful trait, the move towards modern compensation laws originated from Prussia. It was under the prodigious direction from Otto von Bismarck that led towards modern day compensation laws for workers. Due to his convictions and stern pragmatism, he was able to pull off what can be said as the first modern system to reflect worker’s compensation by supporting Worker’s Accident Insurance of 1884 and formulating it into existence.

5. Emergence in the United States With the majority of European countries taking heed of the Prussian renaissance, it was in 1897 when the parliament finally passed the Worker’s Compensation Act. This would mean that the United States was now open to suggestion regarding her answer towards the changing times. However what moved the nation was a compelling work of literature in the form of a novel called ‘The Jungle’ by Upton Sinclair in 1906. This sparked an unstoppable movement within the nation which finally led towards the enactment of the first compensation law for workers in Wisconsin during 1911. Enlightenment soon spread across the nation and within 36 years, all states have unanimously agreed to pass their own laws for worker’s compensation, with Mississippi being the last state to do so in 1948.

6. We hope this was an interesting read and you have enjoyed the journey so far regarding how compensation laws fared against the test of time. We believe that mankind can achieve anything as long as they have unity within each other and let the truth guide our paths. The story of worker compensation is nothing short of romanticism and shows us our better colors as a species of this planet.

7. The Cardamone Law Firm, LLC Contact us: Website: http://www.myphillyworkerscomp.com/ Phone: 215-206-9068 Address: 920 Lenmar Drive, Blue Bell, PA