Safety Sacrificed: Workplace Hazards in the Soviet Union
Stalin's drive to transform the Soviet Union prioritised production targets at the expense of worker well-being. The state envisioned an ideal workplace, but the reality was far more grim. Coal mines were filled with dust, and factories lacked proper ventilation. Fear and propaganda replaced genuine safety measures. With a seemingly endless supply of labourers from forced collectivization and the Gulag prison system, management had little incentive to invest in worker safety or health.
The industrialisation of the Soviet economy was Stalin’s top priority. By his own admittance, the Soviet Union is “fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or we shall be crushed.” A modern, industrial USSR would have economic independence from capitalist countries. With the launch of the first five-year plan, millions of citizens worked around the clock to build hundreds of factories, power stations, dams, canals, railways and metro stations. Working in shifts, eleven-hour workdays were considered normal, and safety precautions were almost non-existent. But, machines, electricity, hot iron, and sharp tools were a major threat for workers. Workplace accidents were commonplace.
The Soviet Constitution envisioned an ideal workplace, with Article 21 promising safe conditions, worker protection, and the eventual elimination of hazardous labour through automation. It was management's responsibility to uphold these standards, implementing modern safety measures and prioritising worker health. However, this idealistic vision starkly contrasted with reality. The state’s relentless push for production efficiency, inadvertently fostered a system where safety protocols were compromised, endangering workers. With an almost limitless supply of new able-bodied workers, management lacked any strong incentive to prioritise safety or invest in automation.
The Soviet system's disregard for worker safety extended to one of its darkest institutions – the Gulags. Prisoners were forced to work long hours in dangerous and often backbreaking jobs, from mining and logging to massive infrastructure projects like the White Sea-Baltic Canal. Inadequate food, shelter, and non-existent medical care led to countless deaths from exhaustion, disease, malnutrition, and outright execution. An estimated 14 to 18 million people entered the Gulag between 1929 and 1953, with more than 1.6 million dying in its camps. Approximately 20% of the prisoners were freed each year, but not because they were rehabilitated, but because those prisoners were too weak to continue working or were suffering from incurable diseases.
The Birth of the Soviet Safety Poster
The relentless industrialization of the Soviet Union came with a hidden cost – rampant workplace accidents and deaths. In a desperate attempt to address this crisis, the government turned to a familiar tool: propaganda. Having stripped artists of their right to independently create art, Stalin commissioned them to create safety posters to line the walls of factories. Artists had to follow strict guidelines on subject and aesthetic. But, the resulting posters were text-heavy and ineffective since half of the workforce was illiterate.
Recognizing this limitation, a shift occurred. Graphic design emerged as a powerful tool, conveying messages visually rather than verbally. Posters evolved from simple slogans blaming workers to a more proactive approach emphasising prevention. This new wave of posters embraced shocking imagery – blood, injuries, and explosions – to hammer home the dangers of improper machine use. Bold colours and striking graphics aimed to pierce through the illiteracy barrier, advising workers on the importance of safety glasses, avoiding exposed wires, and keeping clear of dangerous machinery. The intention of these graphic posters was clear: to shock workers into attention, and ultimately, into compliance.
The Chernobyl Disaster: A Culture of Fear
A fear of authority and the need to please political masters resulted in a fear- and compliance-driven workplace culture. The hierarchical decision-making process further complicated things. The Chernobyl disaster, the most infamous civilian nuclear catastrophe in history, epitomises these failures.
On April 26, 1986, a test was conducted to assess the steam turbine's ability to power the emergency feedwater pumps in the event of a simultaneous loss of external power and coolant pipe rupture. Operators, concerned about the safety of the process, were unable to voice their concerns. The test proceeded, resulting in a steam explosion followed by a nuclear meltdown. The reactor lacked crucial safety features like a concrete containment structure and water moderators. A radioactive cloud began to spread across Ukraine and Europe.
Over 1,000 kilometres away, Sweden's Forsmark Power Plant detected elevated radiation levels. Despite initial denials, Soviet authorities were forced to concede the true scale of the disaster as they evacuated over 100,000 people, and the full scale of the situation was realised by the global community. A pervasive culture of secrecy and denial, fueled partly by a misplaced sense of national pride, delayed recovery efforts and exacerbated the tragedy. The Soviet press at times suggested that agents of the West had intentionally caused the disaster itself through sabotage.
The disaster was later blamed on human error, with the government focusing on the power plant operators' violations of procedures and regulations rather than acknowledging underlying systemic issues. This root cause of human error was traced to poor knowledge of nuclear reactor physics and engineering, as well as lack of experience and training. As far as Soviet authorities were concerned, individuals were to blame, the case could be closed, and the search for a single root cause preempted further inquiry. In the Soviet Union, human error often marked the end of investigations, rather than the beginning.
The Soviet approach to workplace safety reflects a system that prioritised production over people. Even today, legislators in Russia choose to promote the interests of industry and business, while neglecting occupational safety and routinely violating workers’ rights.
