7B

Stop Injuries: Workplace Safety

During the post-war period, ensuring workplace safety and protecting yields became essential to stabilising and modernising rural life. The Czechoslovak Insurance Company played a significant role in this, carrying out extensive preventive education as the country’s sole insurance institution in the 1950s. The symbol of this push for a responsible approach to property and health was the Zábrana ('Barrier') emblem, featuring a distinctive raised hand motif. This warning sign appeared on posters and instructional materials to instil principles of prevention and caution among JZD workers. Through the insurance system, the state sought to protect both human and material resources, which were considered vital assets of a planned economy.