Lol, i think it was a matter of addressing issues as they came to be worried about, like warning labels in manuals, someone had to do it for them to warn you.
And it wasn't until 2002, when a teenage girl died from getting hit by a puck, for the hockey world to realize they should put nets above the glass on the ends and along the sides of the rinks.
First Autoracing/motocycle helmet missed by Bell helmet and commissioned by the Snell Safety foundation 1958. They wore helmets into battle When? Go figure