University Essay: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and Its Impact

This essay examines the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, a devastating event in 1911 at the Greenwich Village neighborhood in Manhattan, New York, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 146 workers. The essay explores the causes of the fire, including negligence in the garment industry and inadequate safety precautions, as well as the locked doors and lack of escape routes. It highlights the ensuing public outcry and the subsequent introduction of new regulations and laws aimed at improving workplace safety standards. The essay emphasizes the fire's continued relevance by drawing parallels to modern-day workplace disasters and the ongoing need for stringent safety measures, especially for vulnerable workers. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of learning from this tragedy to improve health and safety standards in the industrial sector.

Running head: -THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIRE
THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIRE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIRE
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire occurred in 1911 at the Greenwich Village
neighborhood located at Manhattan in New York. The event is identified as one of the most
fatal disasters happened in the industrial domain and also regarded as one of the detrimental
in the manufacturing history of America (Linder, 2020). The aggressive fire spread at a rapid
pace all through the garment shop of New York resulting to the casualties of around 146
people and causing harm to the rest. The disaster resulted in identifying the need of
legislation in workplaces for the improvement of workshop safety standards. It further incited
the progression of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) that
endeavored for improved employee standards for laborers engaged in workshops. The thesis
statement is “The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire accentuates the importance of improving
health and safety of workers in contemporary industrial sector.”
The research question from the given thesis statement is:
Will The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire remind the importance of improving safety
standards of workers in present industrial sector?
The dangers of fire in workshops such as the Triangle Shirtwaist had been to certain
degree distinguished. However, increased negligence in garment industry as well as city
administration revealed no effective precautions for the prevention of fires. Comprehensive
studies claimed that owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist already had unstable record of factory
fires. According to Linder (2007), the Triangle factory had encountered fire in 1902, while
another workshop called Diamond Waist Company encountered fire attack twice in the
period from 1907 to 1910. Such significant lack of precaution led to disastrous fire during
working hours in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. The Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire incident
involved approximately 600 workers. Although the then appointed manager attempted to put
off the fire, but failed and led to the arousal of fire and panic. Although, young aged laborers
attempted to make an exit, only 12 of them along with the operator managed to make an exit

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from the sweatshop (Linder p.1). Few of the exit points as well as stairwells had been locked
in order to avert labors from enjoying any leisure time or stealing, consequently leaving
several to be unable to get out from the factory. The increasing panic amongst workers with
lack of precautionary measures led to the death of 146 workers majority of which had been
young immigrant women.
The appalling incident instigated a nationwide outcry indicating the detrimental
working conditions of factories and women laborers and spurred efforts to develop standards.
In the light of the fearful incident, it is important to note that the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
fire is of great relevance to understand and focus on poor working conditions still persisting
even today in garment sweatshops and other workplaces (Robinson & Robinson p. 7).
Although, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire took place almost a century ago, yet modern
organizations show unstable practices of safety regulations and safety concerns still haunt the
workers engaged in various workshops all across the world (Pool p. 202). As per reports, in
2014, another workplace disaster took place in Texas, United States wherein a fertilizer plant
blasted resulting in 14 casualties and harming more than 160 people (Bair, Anner & Blasi p.
25). On the other hand, another explosion occurred in a coal mine of West Virginia operated
by Massey Energy exterminated 29 mineworkers and the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig
explosion resulted in the death of approximately 11 laborers and resulted in an enormous
environmental disaster (Linder p. 10). The research question draws great importance as the
issues of employee safety standards developed as a particular concern for undocumented
workers who have been still receiving poorest treatment from employers. Pool (2012) on the
contrary argued that while lack of safety guidelines led many workers engaged in highly
physically demanding and low salaried services such as construction to landscaping have
changed connections while discussing their safety guidelines being aware of the reality that
they show lesser likelihood to raise voice for their own rights.

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THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIRE
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire led to the introduction of new regulations and
laws for improvingly regulating and defending human health conditions in workplaces.
According to Linder (2020, p.1), in New York, the Factory Investigating Commission had
been established in 1911. Furthermore, extensive and effective, the commission had
introduced around 15 new regulations by the end of 1911 were introduced in support of fire
safety, employment and sanitation while only 8 had been enacted. However, the laws did not
show considerable effectiveness. In contemporary time, diminutive section of organizations
realizes the role that US consumerism had a role in the tragedy. Immigrants have played
decisive role to the economy of the United States since the country’s institution.
Comprehensive studies mentioned that youths from Russia, Italy and Germany put their
efforts concurrently at the Triangle Shirtwaist workshop similar to immigrants coming from
various parts of the world do in current workplaces.
Furthermore, women still get lesser remuneration as compared to male counterparts.
Bair, Anner and Blasi (2017, p. 47) have noted that the immigrant women workers tend to
experience high exploitation whereby they are disproportionately work in the highly
hazardous services and regardless of the desire of many to engage with labor unions, several
obstacles tend to remain. In the opinion of Robinson and Robinson (2016, p. 5), as long as
employees show panic and hesitance of raising health and safety issues, there is a dire need of
reinforcing workplace protections as well as workplace enforcement. Guidelines such as
OSHA regulations have made direct contributions to the substantial decline in workplace
fatalities. The fire held in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory paved the way for major labor and
employment legislations in New York.
Thus to conclude, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire had been seen as the product of
these consequences and can be regarded as the best approach to understand the importance
of improving health and safety of workers in contemporary industrial sector. Furthermore,

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such an incident can reinforce these standards in order to redirect the realities of modern
economy.

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References
Bair, J., Anner, M., & Blasi, J. (2017). Sweatshops and the search for solutions, yesterday
and today. Unmaking the global sweatshop: Health and safety of the world’s garment
workers, 29-56.
Linder, D. (2007). The triangle shirtwaist factory fire trial. Available at SSRN 1024289.
Linder, D. (2020). Excerpts from Trial Testimony in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial.
Retrieved 24 February 2020, from https://famous-trials.com/trianglefire/973-excerpts
Linder, D. (2020). New York Times March 26, 1911 (p. 1). Retrieved 24 February 2020,
from https://famous-trials.com/trianglefire/984-trianglenyt0326
Linder, D. (2020). Preliminary Report of the New York Factory Investigating Commission,
1912. Retrieved 24 February 2020, from https://famous-trials.com/trianglefire/970-
trianglereport
Linder, D. (2020). Summations in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial . Retrieved 24 February
2020, from https://famous-trials.com/trianglefire/972-summations
Pool, H. (2012). The politics of mourning: the triangle fire and political
belonging. Polity, 44(2), 182-211.
Robinson, P. H., & Robinson, S. (2016). Tragedy, outrage & reform crimes that changed our
world: 1911–Triangle Factory Fire–Building Safety Codes.