History of Technology:Development of Safety Aspects with the Growth of Industry

The first boiler inspection society for technical supervision was founded before 150 years. A series of accidents occurred in 1865 in a recovery in Mannheim in Germany. With the explosion of a boiler the boiler attendant was killed and several employees were very gravely wounded. As the cause, several erroneous performances were identified such as shortage of water in the boiler, too much pressure and defective maintenance. The employees were not sufficiently made aware of the so caused danger and they had almost no education and current knowledge whatsoever. This accident was the occasion for the founding of the German society for the inspection and safety of boilers under the directive of VDI (Association of German Engineers) in the beginning of the year 1866 with its office in Mannheim by 22 undertakings.