General Occupational Health Conditions in Slave Labour

Until the 19th century, the Brazilian economy was based on slave labour. In the 21st century, Brazil is one of the countries where conditions analogous to slavery persist. In many of these situations, it is difficult to apply the penal code due to the lack of technical-scientific support that establishes unequivocally if a specific situation configures, or not, neo-slavery work. From an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) perspective, this study analyses the health conditions of slave labour in the 19th century better to understand the conditions of neo-slave labour in Brazil. The study was designed as a Thematic Review with data collection from articles, theses, dissertations and books. The most observed diseases and injuries were the direct or indirect result of poor general conditions of food, lodging and clothing, exhaustive working hours and accidents resulting from environmental conditions in which work was developed. Healthcare existed as a form of preservation of financial assets, keeping slaves fit for work for the time necessary to amortise their market value and obtain the profit expected by the farmer. Although health care did exist, analysed occupational health conditions show a high mortality rate, above the average of the free population.