Who's Responsible for Safety?
This political cartoon came out of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.
What is the message the artist is trying to convey with this cartoon?
Could the conditions that led to the Triangle Shirtwaist tragedy exist in the workplace today? Why or why not?
You can learn more about this fire at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/
posted by Mrs. Freeman at 8:04 AM
22 Comments:
I feel the message being conveyed is an example of how bureaucracy and greed can stand in the way of common sense and safety. Many changes where to slow to come about, due to the bureaucracy and greed of the politicians, thusallowing safety concerns to go unabated. In this case, a huge loss of life incurred.
I also feel that the conditions that led to this tragedy are and will occur again. Many examples have proven this so, Cocoanut Grove and the fire that occurred just recently in Rhode Island during a performance by Great White. These fires resulted in hundreds of deaths. Escape routes are a must and they must be properly used.
5:44 PM
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2:13 PM
I believe that the political cartoon made after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire may have been sending a message, even perhaps ahead of its time. I think that the artist was using the fire as an example to send a message of how capitalism can sometimes be an evil empire at the cost of the lower and weaker class. I think that the cartoon paints a picture of how the richer and stronger individual, which represents capitalism, is standing in the way of the lower and weaker class, which is represented by the group of people trying to break through the door. As you can see it only takes one capitalist, which is shown in very nice attire, to hold back an entire group of the lower class, which are not as well dressed. I believe that mattreese was exactly right when he stated that "due to the bureaucracy and greed...concerns go unabated." I believe that the artist is making a stand and saying that these types of matters cannot continue and attention must be given to them. Perhaps it was because of people like the artist that safety organizations such as OSHA, NFPA and other unions have come to light.
2:14 PM
As Mattreese and John have both pointed out the author is presenting to us a so called gentlemen on the left of the door. A gentlemen who is representative of some sort of power. Whether we associate or title him after some ism or ocracy it all points to the same thing in the end, greed as symbolized by the dollar sign on his jacket and/or power which is also associated with money.
The author is also showing us the weak souls on the right who are trapped in the fire, pleading for help. What some don't see though is the third party the author is presenting to us. What third party you ask? It is you and I. It is anyone looking at the cartoon, causing them to read the issues behind it and then hopefully pushing them to do what is morally and ethically right. To protect the poor souls on the right of the door.
Things like this still happen today here in America and in many, many places through out the world. It is up to us, current firefighters, aspiring firefighters, educators and countless others who are in positions of power or influence to stand up for those on the right and do all we can to protect them from harm utilizing the many tools available to us.
5:19 PM
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5:26 PM
This caricature is portraying how greed and capitalism is "holding back" the lower class of sweatshop workers. This is figurative and literal in that the owners of the building actually locked the doors to prevent the workers from stealing from them.
I believe conditions like this still exist in the workplace today here in the United States and internationally as well. Many of the great tragic fires were a tragedy because the emergency exits were locked or blocked. Unfortunately, many owners of buildings are still in it for financial reasons and unwilling to take those little extra steps to keep their buildings safe.
5:34 PM
I think that the cartoon is trying to show how the greed of the industrialists caused several people to die. I think that the conditions in the tragedy can definitely occur in todays workplace. There are probabaly several sweatshops in the nation that could end up like the triangle tragedy, for the same reason that it happened in 1911....greed.
10:41 PM
I think that this political cartoon is conveying the message between the sweatshop workers, and the business workers. The Business workers need the sweatshop workers, but they do not want anything to do with them. It shows the anger from the sweatshop workers towards the upper class. The Business man is showing more strength.
11:26 PM
It's funny because before I even had access to this blog I used this picture for our scrapbook assignment. I think this is a great representation of what went on at the Triangle Shritwaist fire. You have the aristocratic business owner keeping in the lowly wage workers. "The Man," in his high fashion, worried solely about profit, could care less about his workers locking the exits to prevent even the smallest of thieving. This absolutely could happen in the workplace today. While America has implemented numerous safety precautions at home, our corporations abroad still use the same type of workplaces like those at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. The sweatshops ran by our international companies pay lowly wage workers to work in sprawling factories producing clothing, handygoods, and other combustibles in very tight quarters. It'd be nice to think that every worker is given ample room to perform his/her tasks, but that is not reality. Companies will cram as many people into a building to maximize production and that creates a fire hazard. After all a business is owned by shareholders who expect profits, and by maximizing output and paying the bare minimum for construction that is how the profit is obtained.
12:52 AM
In This cartoon if you look closely you can see that the door knob and his clothes are made of dollar signs. The artist is trying to make a point by saying that these people died because of the greed and power of these owners and their willingness to risk peoples lives to save a little bit of money.
I belive it is not only possible but will probably happen again in the future because making money is the center of this worlds attention and people are willing to cut corners if it will make them money. But thats why fire departments need to continue with their strict inspectioins to prevent such tragedies.
11:48 AM
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7:09 PM
I believe that this is a great representation of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. It shows the aristcratic business owner on the left hand side, holding the door shut keeping the working class in the fire. This shows how the business owners didnt care about the safety of their workers, they just cared about making a profit
7:14 PM
I think that this cartoon represents the unfair crowded work conditions the workers had to go through, while the high buisness men keep all the profit and got all the glory.
8:22 PM
The message is pretty straight forward the artist was trying to enflame passions with this representation of "The man" holding down the masses to make a buck even if that means the have-nots lose there lives.
I always have problems with things like this because it is so radically one sided. Is there any representations of why the doors were locked? I agree that the exits should have been open and the fire equipment needed to be kept up. My question is what is a business owner supposed to do about employee theft? It would be naive to think that leaving the back door open no one would steal the companies property. I don't have an answer to the problem but the cartoon of an evil capitalist heartlessly murdering poor people just for kicks is just too simplistic. Like I said I agreed that the doors needed to be unlocked and the employers were ultimately at fault so I don't want to get flamed for being a big meanie. I just think it would be better to look past the surface and see what the causes were and how they could be fixed.
10:29 PM
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10:30 PM
I must say that the Triangle fire was a tragedy, there were many cut corners and safety hazards that took place in the sweatshops of that time. However, I don't think it is capitalism to blame. I think the problem is within the hearts of people. People have their own greed and will make certain shortcuts in order to make a buck. The problem lies there. The government can step in and make regulations if need be, but it should be the motivation of the individual within him or herself to make the resonable decision to look after the welfare of the empoloyees.
Then again, since we are in a very broken world. On issues this serious, the government needs to make regulations in order to protect the citizens.
12:56 PM
To me, this political cartoon shows me the greed in the business world, and how mistreated and unsafe the working environment is for the workers. Basically, the business people care more about their profits or merchandise than their workers.
8:40 PM
The artist is conveying the message that those whom operate or own a business are willing to sacrifice or turn and look the other way when it comes to their employees basic safety in the work place. Those operating the business are willing to do so in an effort to acrew more riches or cut back on cost, without any regard for those working behind the closed door.
I feel that these conditions could and do exist in the workplace today. Whether it be obstructed exits and walk-ways or simply not having sprinkler systems and extinguishers checked routinely, this sort of carelessness is just the sort of thing that may/do cause an incident such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
11:01 PM
The message conveyed by the artist through this political cartoon is during that time shortcuts were taken in order to reduce costs at the expense of employee safety. Oftentimes hazardous working conditions are created by employers such as lack of lighted exit signs and proper fire escape routes because safety takes a back seat to the bottom line (making a profit). In the cartoon, the well dressed man symbolizes business owners and political figures that disregard the safety of their employees and the general public to save a buck. I feel that these type of conditions can definitely happen again. Many times I notice in restaurants and other commercial buildings such hazards as locked/blocked fire escape doors and disfunctional exit signs. This is why fire inspections are vital in the community.
11:07 PM
The cartoon is conveying the overall lack of concern for anyone but the bottom dollar. The disregard for basic employees rights and safety were obviously not always acknowledged during these times.
The idea of not taking the employee or patron's safety above all else has been repeated in today's workplace. This was exemplified in both nightclub examples, but can occur in other areas as well. In many small businesses that might not be regulated consitently, the greed for the dollar may outweigh the saftey of the patron or employee.
5:39 PM
When I reviewed the cartoon, alot of things come to mind. The one thing that really stuck out was how their was a barrier between the business class and lower class. You can see the dollar signs on the cartoon. And how it was put up by the business (upper) class was from greed. My dept. being close to the U.S./Mexico border, I have seen first hand some of the sweat shops and how immigrant workers work in less than acceptable working environments. This cartoon just didn't describe then but also now. It still happens today and for what? Dollars. How sad.
9:56 PM
This cartoon demonstrates the power of money and those who are in control of it. The man on the left is made up of money and is able to withstand the great forces on the other side. They key to secure that door has a dollar symbol, which also symbolises power. On the other side, the masses and the poor are left to the elements. A real life scenario of this is a land developer who does not install sprinkler systems to all the homes in a community. To compensate for this the developer pays to build a fire station, and buy new apparatus for the station. It was deemed cheaper to do that than to go back and fix all the homes to code.
9:34 PM
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