Breathing Easily
The ancient world found ingenious solutions for protective equipment in the workplace – but did its workers benefit?
The ancient workplace was extremely hazardous, its conditions causing health problems from callouses and scars to permanent deformities or other, less immediately visible, issues, such as breathing problems. Despite the absence of the modern understanding of health and safety, or even basic principles of hygiene, the people working in it recognised the need for protection, which they managed using a variety of protective equipment, ranging in complexity and ingenuity from the rudimentary to the advanced.
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