c2000, BC

Hammurabi, ruler of Babylon, was responsible for the Code of Hammurabi, part of which bears resemblance to today’s workers’ compensation laws.

c460-c377, BC

Hippocrates, the father of contemporary medicine, established .a link between the respiratory problems of Greek stonecutters and the rock dust surrounding them.

1667

The Great Fire of London (September 2-7, 1666) caused the first English fire insurance laws to be enacted.

1880

William Gladstone pushes Employers’ Liability Act in Britain

1864

The Pennsylvania Mine Safety Act (PMSA) was passed into law.

1871

Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg, (known as Otto von Bismarck, a Prussian statesman) enacts the Employers’ Liability Act.

1877

The state of Massachusetts passed a law requiring guarding for dangerous machinery, and took authority for enforcement of factory inspection programs.

1878

The first recorded call by a labor organization for a federal occupational safety and health law is heard.

1884

Otto von Bismarck enacts Workers’ Accident Insurance

1902

The state of Maryland passed the first workers’ compensation law.

1911

Industrial Insurance laws enacted in Washington State.

1911 – 1915

During this period, 30 states passed workers’ compensation laws.

1968

President Lyndon Johnson called for a federal occupational safety and health law.

1970

President Richard Nixon signed into law the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), thus creating the OSH Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

1972

Self-Insurance for Workers’ Compensation allowed for individual businesses in Washington State.

2012

Compromise and Release Structured Settlement Agreements allowed for certain Washington State workers’ compensation claims that meet basic criteria.