Closing of the exhibition “Prevention Posters of the 20th Century” at the Sabero Museum (León)

After 22 days open to the public, the last century.

The event is part of the events organized by the Mutual Fund within its VII Prevention Week, between April 22 and 29, which brings together various events around April 28 World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The Mutual Collaborator with Social Security shares with the AXA Foundation the work of disseminating risk prevention through this exhibition. 

Francisco Javier García, mayor of the town of Sabero, where the Museum is located, welcomed the attendees to the event and recalled that the history of the town he governs is linked to the company Hulleras de Sabero, which also historically used graphic images to convey to workers the importance of workplace safety.

Roberto Fernández, director of the Museum of Steel and Steel Minería de Castilla y León, presented the event and was pleased to have been able to tell at the headquarters of the center that it directs about this exhibition of posters "because they are authentic gems."  

Natalia Fdez. Deputy General Director of Prevention, Quality and Communication of    

Then Alberto Pérez, Director of Business Development and Marketing of AXA Seguros in the Western Territory of AXA, took the floor, pointing out that “in Spain, approximately two people die on average per day due to workplace accidents, figures that we could undoubtedly reduce with prevention measures. In this effort to promote and disseminate both the values of the culture of prevention and the technical innovations in this field, the AXA Foundation works hand in hand with Fraternidad-Muprespa.  

Carlos Luis Iglesias, head of the Labor Inspection of León put in value the importance of “this type of acts, which contribute to promoting awareness and dissemination of the importance of occupational risk prevention.”

After the interventions, Antonio José Millán, director of the AXA Chair of Prevention, took a guided tour to publicize the peculiarities of the posters exposed.

The figure of the penitent

Fraternidad-Muprespa has moved to this exhibition, and for the first time, the sculpture of the figure of the 'penitent', a piece donated by the Junta de Andalucía that commemorates the person who entered the coal mines to burn the bags of firedamp gas, before for the miners to enter and thus protect their lives.  Wrapped in a wet burlap tunic and with a hood that covered his entire face, except for his eyes, he carried a long lit pole at its end, intended to explode the firedamp accumulated on the roof.

The legend stated that the first 'penitents' were prisoners who redeemed part of their sentences. The reality is that they were elderly miners who thus found another way of livelihood, bohemian or adventurous people and, for the most part, experienced miners who voluntarily and in just a few hours of work, multiplied their salary by carrying out this work. His figure was banned during the second half of the 19th century in most European countries.

This is the Prevention Posters exhibition of the century XX

The sample consists of 48 reproductions of posters dated from 1905 to the 70s, when radio and television were consolidated as means to convey advertising messages. Belonging to the La Retrografia collection, it contains posters alluding to the three vertices of the triangle of occupational accidents: insurance, prevention, and medical and economic compensation for the injured. Using QR codes, the visitor can access a speech that explains in greater detail the artistic characteristics of each piece, as well as its social value.

The images address different situations, agricultural, industrial, or mining, as well as the various risks derived from each of them: chemicals, fires, muscle injuries due to overload, poisoning or mental fatigue, and they do so by evidencing currents of art deco posterism, realism or of constructivism.