Did You Know?
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory was located in the top three floors of the Asch Building in Manhattan. Most of the employees were young immigrant women who worked in cramped space for 12 hours every day. On March 25, 1911, there were 600 workers in the building when a fire started from a rag bin. The workers tried to escape, but the escape routes were not fully functional (only one elevator was fully operational out of the four, stairway doors were locked, and fire escape was very narrow). As a result, 145 workers were killed: 49 worker burned to death or suffocated by smoke, 36 died in the elevator shaft, 58 died from jumping to the sidewalks, and 2 died later from their injuries. The owners and management were not charged with manslaughter even though there was evidence against them for neglecting their responsibilities. On April 5th, the workers union protested about the conditions that led to the fire and 80,000 people attended.
Why is this important?
It was one of the most well-known incidents in American industrial history. Since the deaths were due to neglected safety features and locked doors within the building, this tragedy was an environmental health issue that could have been prevented. Due to this incident, a set of laws and regulation were developed in order to provide workers’ safety and prevent future disasters like this one.
Source:
History – Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Generation W.E.E.E. 