The ‘Iron Fighters’ of 1928
Images appeared recently in the Daily Mail showing construction workers known as ‘iron fighters’ hanging from Rubery Owen Steel frames on London's tallest skyscraper in 1928.
Construction workers, known as ‘iron fighters’ or ‘human flies’, can be seen on the site of the London Transport headquarters hanging from steel structures without any support and dressed smartly in waistcoats and leather shoes.
The Health and Safety at Work Act did not come into force until 1974, so it was common to see men climbing to dizzy heights without a harness.