Better to prevent than indemnify?: Work accidents in Argentina, 1915-1955

Abstract

In line with the sanctions and regulations of the Work Accident Law in Argentina (1915), a series of measures were adopted to prevent work accidents and professional diseases. They were designed in a non-systemic and spasmodic fashion by both state agencies and industrial sectors. Based on the investigation of legislative debates, official and professional journals, and graphic materials, this article shows that an indemnifying approach prevailed over a preventive approach in governmental and private management bodies during this period and that the two strategies were combined as mechanisms for resolving work problems. Study of the preventive policies, poster campaigns, and target audiences of recommendations is one method to identify those who were included in social policies and those who were excluded. The relevance of this issue lies in the fact that a large part of the corpus of law on social policies has been constructed around the dilemma of individual or social responsibility.