Havoc and Reform: Workplace Disasters in Modern America

How disasters—that have wrecked work sites throughout American history, in all parts of the nation and all sectors of the economy—have also inspired policy reform.

Workplace disasters have wreaked havoc on countless American workers and their families. They have resulted in widespread death and disability as well as the loss of property and savings. These tragic events have also inspired safety reforms that reshaped labor conditions in ways that partially compensated for death, suffering, an...