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, 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 Monsanto Chemical
Company plant, the 1956 airliner collision over the Grand Canyon, the
hospital collapses following the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, the 1980
fire at the Las Vegas MGM Grand, and the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma
City Federal Building. These incidents destroyed places of employment
that seemed safe and affected a relatively wide range of working people,
including highly trained, salaried professionals and blue- and
white-collar groups. And each took a toll on the general public,
increasing fears that anyone could be in danger of being killed or
injured and putting pressure on public officials to prevent similar
tragedies in the future.
As Kraft considers how these tragedies transformed individual lives and
specific work environments, he describes how employees, employers, and
public leaders reacted to each event. Presented chronologically, his
studies offer a unique and sobering outlook on the rise of a now vital
and integral part of the national economy. They also underscore the
ubiquity and persistence of workplace disasters in American history
while building on and challenging literature about the impact of World
War II in the American West. Within a broader frame, they speak to the
double-edged nature of modern life.
