Les perceptions des risques au travail dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle: Entre connaissance, déni et prévention

Abstract

The publication in 1860 by Doctor Maxime Vernois of the first treatise of industrial hygiene opened in its manner one half-century of intensive observation and demonstration of occupational hazards.The extension, the deepening as well as the diffusion of knowledge on pathologies related to work gradually shaped both real and acknowledged perceptions of the industrial world by both employers and workers.This article examines the difficulties and slow progress of French hygienists in the second half of the nineteenth century through a discussion of the various ways in which different actors perceived occupational hazards.