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The enactment in 1891 of the Encyclical
letter Rerum Novarum by Pope Leo XIII,
brought about an important change in the
Catholic Church’s position on the exploita-
tion conditions of workers.
On 30 January 1900, the first Law on Oc-
cupational Accidents was enacted in Spain,
a law that addressed the issue of compen-
sation for occupational risks.
The International Work Organization (1919),
through its recommendations and inter-
national covenants, has promoted several
measures to improve workers’ wellbeing.
Providing aid resources in production spa-
ces has been historically linked to the social
consideration of work. The increasing eco-
nomic awareness of health in the modern
world made it possible to create the first cli-
nics and hospitals and stimulated the inter-
est of the medical field in productive work.
The incorporation of medical healthcare re-
sources in the labour world was the result
of employer associations’ management of
the workforce, and became mandatory un-
der laws to protect workers.
The laws on accidents was a determinant
factor in creating medical assistance practi-
ces in the first third of the twentieth century
and generated a new speciality: work me-
dicine which was first known as “accident
medicine”.5
In 1931, accident law covered farm wor-
kers and in 1933, the Work Clinics were
created.
Medical departments at companies and
the teams from insurance and mutual
work accident insurance companies were
organized as the core of a new medical
speciality; “accident medicine”. 6
In the field of prevention, the medical de-
partments of companies and work physi-
cians gradually abandoned the environ-
Sulphur mines in Lorca (Murcia).
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