Legal Issues

What is particularly useful about these three examples is that cover a wide range of legal issues.

First, each has a particular timeframe. The technology behind railways created and subsequently dealt with the issue of sparks being launched from the passage of the train between the mid and late nineteenth century. At about the same time as the risk from sparks was fading, steam boiler explosions were increasing. Finally, as the twentieth century progressed, our understanding of the effects of asbestos fibres on health, and in particular their connection with asbestosis and the cancer mesothelioma were gradually uncovered.

Second, while sparks from boilers typically damaged nearby land, this was merely one example of the battle between country farmer and the industrialist, often sanctioned by a legislating body like Parliament. On the other hand, exploding boilers and asbestos dust are primarily matters of personal injury; yet personal injury in very different kinds and in different times. Of course, personal injury is now thought of as a much more serious thing than property damage, but is not a simple comparison to make in all cases. A boiler exploding in the late nineteenth century would be immediate, catastrophic and for a long time, outside the everyday experience of judges. By the time of asbestos, from the 1960s onwards, the victim would be much more able to sue. However, there would be great problems in showing who had caused the harm since the diseases could take decades to show symptoms.

After steam electricity came with risks too. What's next?