Description
Book SynopsisHow disastersthat have wrecked work sites throughout American history, in all parts of the nation and all sectors of the economyhave 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, and social dislocation. In Havoc and Reform, James P. Kraft encourages readers to think about such disastrous events in new ways. Placing the problem of workplace safety in historical context, Kraft focuses on five catastrophes that shocked the nation in the half century after World War II, a time when service-oriented industries became the nation's leading engines of job growth. Looking to growing areas of economic life in the Western Sunbelt, Kraft touches on the 1947 explosion of the Texas City Mon
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. Disasters at Work: A Brief Background
2. Chemical Plant Explodes in Texas City!
3. Airliners Collide over the Grand Canyon!
4. Hospitals Collapse in Southern California!
5. MGM Grand Burns in Las Vegas!
6. Federal Building Bombed in Oklahoma City!
Conclusion
Notes
Essay on Primary Sources
Index
