The Introduction to the 1965 Cuban Government's Occupational Health and Safety Manual,With a Statement From Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara

Abstract

We are presenting here a translation of the introduction to a Cuban government Manual of Safety and Hygiene for Work that was prepared for Cuban workers in 1965. The manual was written by Lic. Hugo Murua Chevesich and Dr. Antonio Granda Ibarra. The introduction includes a brief statement from Commandante Ernesto Che Guevara, then Cuban Minister of Industry. Noteworthy is that Che explains that occupational health and safety was not a priority in the revolution’s first years under the pressure to increase production. In fact, he says that this pressure caused a certain contempt for personal safety. He declares that this approach must change and states emphatically that protection of workers is essential and that the measures explained in the manual must be implemented immediately.

Keywords

Cuban revolution worker health and safety Ernesto Che Guevara

January 1, 2019, was the 60th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. In recognition of this historic event, we present a translation of the introduction to the Cuban Government's Manual of Safety and Hygiene for Work that was prepared for workers in 1965. The manual was the first of its kind in Latin America and was written by Lic. Hugo Murua Chevesich and Dr. Antonio Granda Ibarra (founding director of the Cuban National Institute for Workers’ Health—Cuban Instituto Nacional de Salud de los Trabajadores). The introduction includes a brief statement from Commandante Ernesto Che Guevara. It is noteworthy that Che explains that occupational health and safety was not a priority in the revolution’s first years when productive capacity was being established. In fact, he says that the pressure of production caused concerns about worker safety to be viewed with a certain contempt by the workers and the revolutionary leadership. Following this initial five years without priorities for workplace health and safety, Che declared that protection of workers will now be regarded as an essential element of production, which should improve as new technologies are developed, but the minimal norms set forth in the manual must be implemented immediately.

New Solutions is grateful to Dr. Peter Orris for translating this short historical document for publication. It is a strong reminder that a democratic organization of production and work must aim to preserve worker health and safety and aim for maximal prevention of workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Doing that will be a new solution.

Occupational Health and Safety Manual

“We must try to save men, not waste them”

Comandante Fidel Castro

Introduction

This Manual of Work Safety and Hygiene is the product of the work developed by two organizations: the Ministry of Industries and the Ministry of Public Health. It constitutes a sample of the socialist consciousness of our Revolution, which has as its primary purpose safeguarding mankind and society as a whole. And second, to safeguard the means of work to be able to increase production in general according to needs of the population.

We are aware that this emphasis in our work is only taking its first steps in our Socialist Cuba and that there is still much to be done in relation to working conditions, production methods, and skills on how to work safely. This manual is not the best that we will be able to write on these matters. It contains a compendium of practical approaches, not only to change work practices but also for its organization and job design.

We have tried to be as clear as possible in the writing of the different chapters, so that they serve not only those professionals responsible for safety and health, but also labor and management cadres, and health and safety committees. We are aware that we have only discussed a few topics with enough depth; on the other hand, others are weakly elaborated, and lastly there are voluntary omissions since current conditions did not allow us to include them as we would have liked.

It is necessary that this manual be decanted a little at a time, studied, criticized, and suggestions made. Only then we will be able to start a task that will be up to the standards of the Technical Revolution that today shakes our homeland.

In short, we hope that it will be one of the first steps for the technical development of our field, which includes the training of health and safety personnel at all levels, consistent with our industrial development, and the real conditions under which our Socialist Revolution has developed.

If we analyze the contents of the manual, we will see that some of the things that are outlined or suggested are difficult to apply at this time, since the poor labor conditions inherited from capitalism, and the imperialist blockade, hinder our work in this regard. However, the truth is: we are improving our working conditions with our own resources and our whole revolution has caused the imperialist blockade to fail. This should serve as an incentive to redouble our efforts in the attainment of the goals that we have set for the benefit of the workers, our economy, and society as a whole.

It would be unfair if, in this introduction, we did not appreciate the collaboration of the different compañeros (revolutionary compatriots) who have worked in the creation of this manual who are:

From the Ministry of Public Health—Mika, Doctors Judith Morente, Aracely Padron, Julia Alvarez, Rafael Martorell, and the engineer Luis Radelats.

From the Ministry of Industry—the compañero engineers Alberto Castinieira and Demetrio Rizo, who made and reviewed each topic trying to give the manual the best structure possible. We must especially mention our compañero Luis Castillo, a special cartoonist, who has given life to the different themes with his illustrations. In addition, we have to mention the personnel of the Department of Safety and Hygiene of the Ministry of Industries, who in greater or lesser degrees have intervened in multiple occasions to achieve this year’s fundamental goal.

Now, we believe that it is important and appropriate to include the words of a person who, with his wide revolutionary vision, has included Occupational Safety and Health as a fundamental task of the Ministry of Industry for 1965. We refer to the Compañero Minister of Industries, Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara.

Safety and Work Hygiene—A Fundamental Task for the Ministry of Industries for 1965

The incorporation of this new task has the function of creating within our apparatus the awareness of the imperative of understanding the Safety and Hygiene of our workers.

The maelstrom of production, in these first years, and the commitment to our people by management and workers, caused a certain contempt for personal safety in the workplace. This, essential for a moment of revolutionary tension, becomes a negative factor over time. Today we have arrived at a strong awareness that it is essential to guarantee our workers a series of minimum safety standards and facilities that allow them to work safely and at ease.

Socialism is not only made to produce more or to produce better. Man and, especially the proletarian, must be the direct beneficiary of advances in technology and science. And with this spirit, we will approach the year 1965.

It is necessary to warn, given our plans, that the year 1965 will be for studies and evaluation, and only after this has elapsed, will we guarantee that investments are made to correct all the hazards detected in production. However, for us, Safety and Work Hygiene should be the task that defines the year 1965, that is to say, that we are dedicated to emphasize this in all our work. While the planned investments develop, all the ministry’s apparatus must work to create awareness of the need to comply with the established norms and to assure adherence to them.

Comandante Ernesto Guevara

Finally, before the reader initiates the study of this book, we want to ask you to read and act on it with a critical mind, in such a way, that your criticisms and suggestions allow us to improve this manual in the next edition. In this way, it will fully comply with the objectives for which it was conceived and benefit our people and our Socialist Revolution.

Editor’s Note: Ernesto Guevara, nicknamed Che, was an Argentinian physician who traveled to Mexico to join Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries when they set sale to make a revolution in Cuba in 1956 and succeeded on January 1, 1959. Che served as a leader of the revolutionary 26th of July Movement and a Cuban government official for fifteen years. He was engaged in armed struggle against imperialism in Africa and Latin American. He was captured and executed in 1967 by Bolivian security forces working with the U.S. CIA in the Bolivian mountains. Among many interviews, articles, and books, he is the author of “Socialism and Man in Cuba,” published in 1965, in which he outlines his views on humanity’s development.

Photo credit: https://www.history.com/topics/south-america/che-guevara-video

Footnotes

Author Biographies

Antonio Granda Ibarra is a physician and professor of Medical Sciences at the University of Havana and Investigator of Merit of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. He was the founding director of the Cuban National Institute of Workers Health in 1978 and continues to teach at the institute and at the National School of Public Health. He has published ten books and many articles in the field of occupational health both in Cuba and internationally and has received many awards.

Hugo Murua Chevesich worked at the Ministry of Labor in Chile for several years as specialist on safety and hygiene. He was the chief of the Department of Safety and Industrial Hygiene of the Ministry of Industry, ruled at that time by Ernesto Che Guevara (1965) and now is working in Chile. He is from Chile and is an Engineer in Risk Prevention and the Environment (Industrial Hygienist), the Ministry of Industry, Havana, Cuba. He has authored numerous articles and several books (in Spanish) with domestic and international circulation.Translated by Peter Orris, MD, MPH, Professor and Chief, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System.