Tthe Triangle Shirtwaist Company was a clothing manufacturer, located on several upper floors of a building in Greenwich Village in New York City. When a fire began, there were no automatic sprinklers, no extinguishers, and doors to exits were locked . A large number of employees, mostly young women, died- either from the fire, or jumping to their deaths.
The fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory showed the need for better fire safety and fire evacuation procedures in industrial settings.
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Many different events, at different times, were turning points for workplace safety. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was one of them.
Several dozen employees of Triangle Shirtwaist, all women and mostly young, died in a fire there, partly because the doors were locked (to prevent employees from leaving early). The result was legislation requiring various safety measures in factories.
The state of New York immediately formed the Factory Investigating Commission and overhauled or enacted three dozen laws dealing with factory safety between 1912 and 1914.
The triangle shirtwaist company fire a landmark in labor history because it was the start of creation and enforcement of workplace safety standards.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
It was pivotal in changing the factory conditions in America. It was due to poor practices and improper safety measures that the fire killed so many.
Some of the laws that the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire led the workplace to enforce are better building access, fireproofing, availability of fire extinguishers, installation of alarm systems and automatic sprinklers, better conditions for workers, and limited hours for women and children as well as others.
The death toll in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire was so high because the conditions of the factory was poor from a fire safety standpoint. The fire safety precautions were minimal, and as was standard for the time, there were no fire drills. The doors were kept locked during working hours and communications between floors was ineffective at the time of the fire. Also, the city fire department did not have equipment able to reach to the fire floors from outside.
protect the safety of workers
As a result of very poor safety practices, a fire at a garment factory on an upper floor of a building resulted in the death of 146 people. Many were young women, and their deaths were witnessed by thousands of people. This resulted in outrage among the general population, and a demand for safety regulation to prevent a recurrence.