[Mind the explosion? The evolution of safety at work in anaesthesiology].

The evolution of safety in anaesthesiology is characterized by 2 aspects: exposure of anaesthetic staff by volatile anaesthetics and fire as well as explosions in combination with those. In the 20th century, the exposure of staff in the operating room became more and more important. Trigger for the fatal complications were gas lights in combination with chloroform. Later oxygen and inhalation anaesthetics caused explosions and fires. Therefore safety rules were implemented in the 1980s in the Federal Republic of Germany. These were valid for application anaesthetics including apparatus and configuration of operating rooms. The only imponderability is still the human factor.