Details - Public Health Image Library(PHIL)

ID#:

9569

Caption:

This historic image, provided by the Center for Disease Control's (CDC), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), depicted two industrial workers, who were in the process of weighing an unknown chemical powder on a scale, while wearing protective breathing masks. Though they were filtering their inhaled air, they were not wearing, what today would be requisite, goggles, or gloves, which would have further protected their eyes and skin from accidental contamination. This image, and many others like it, was used to document the many aspects of various industrial activities, so as to better understand these workplace environments, and their associated hazards. In gaining a better understanding of workplace hazards, protocol-formulating bodies such as NIOSH, are better able to create a safer workplace through substantiation of appropriate safety regulations.