In the context of judgment of historical development of system of labor protection in a penal system it is possible to use the following periodization: the pre-revolutionary period (from the moment of foundation of prison department before revolution of 1917); Soviet period (period of existence of the Soviet state (1917-1991); the modern period (since 1991 till present). The historical analysis of formation, development and enhancement of system of labor protection in penal sphere shows close connection of the transformations with general tendencies of changes in the attitude of the state and society to the problems of protection, safety and occupational health.Quantitative assessment of the state of system of labor protection in an occupational sector in penal system was carried out on the basis of findings of the investigation of main forms of the statistical reports of the FPS of Russia for 2014- 2015. The analysis shows simultaneous existence of various tendencies in this sphere, however the most problematic is- sue is the high level of the rate of work place injuries resulting in death.Vector of development of system of labor protection should be based on the the understanding that prisoners occupied with socially useful activities will be more likely to return to society and to realize the labor potential after release only in case that in penal facilities real conditions to the productive, safe, fairly paid, developing and not degrading work are created.