Abstract

The industrial revolution that occurred in the first half of the nineteenth century brought the need of occupational medicine, which originated as a medical specialty in England, to ensure high production. At that time, the workforce reached inhuman levels of production, which required intervention to be guaranteed the minimum conditions for workers. The last 20 years the concern for public health, more rigorous supervision and laws focused on the employee, along with the activities of trade unions and academics began to differentiate the health of occupational health worker, presenting broader approach and greater performance this science. Thus, occupational health and worker health are in the growth and maturation process. From this perspective the objective of this research is to analyse, through bibliographic references, the history and evolution of occupational medicine, stressing the positive aspects from its inception and still faced problems. The research was based on scientific articles, books and especially laws and regulations. The database used in this study was the websites: Google Scholar and Scielo. The keywords used only in Portuguese: History of occupational medicine; Evolution of occupational medicine and laws of occupational medicine. As a result it turns out that the development of occupational health has brought great benefits to both the employee on the company. The occupational physician acts analysing the causes and effects that the way to work or because impossibilities benefits to the employee, whether transient or permanent by analysing the activities carried out by it.