Sunday, January 25, 2015
Shift in Danger Concerning Meat
In Chapter 8, the dangers of all shifts and aspects in the meat packing industry were revealed to me for the first time. What I found most interesting about learning all the hazards to the workers was the incredible shift in where that danger was. Early in the 20th century, Sinclair exposed the health concerns to the general public due to the unsanitary conditions of the industry. This was shocking to the nation and many new regulations were put in place. Now we see the hazards on the other side of the problem and little action being taken. This proposes an interesting question as to how much power government agencies of regulation have, and where companies will draw the line between profits and the safety of their workers
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think the government agencies such as OSHA have power corollary to their funding and unfortunately funding is lacking so power follows along. The government is not very concerned with the regulations put on meat packing industries because of the potential campaign funding they stand to lose as well as the money and effort they would be forced to use to investigate every company to the fullest extent. The companies, as you mention, are also concerned with money over people even more so than the government even is and would just as soon follow no regulations than spend time and money to protect their workers. The limited regulations put forth by the government is the only thing keeping workers, as well as consumers, from dying and being injured in staggering numbers.
ReplyDelete