ABSTRACT
In 1980, over 10 million Americans suffered a disabling injury, in dollars and cents translating into $83.2 billion, i.e., roughly 8% of the gross national product of the United States.
The concern for safety has existed for many centuries: Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) [1] pointed to fumes from lead and the dust from mercury ore grinding; Hippocrates identified lead poisoning in the fourth century BC [2]. In the sixteenth century, George Bauer (1492-1555), also known as Agricola, “the father of mineralogy,” wrote a 12-volume series on mining and metallurgy, which described mining and its associated hazards in detail.
