Admit it, the world is getting more candy assed. Gone are the tough handed men of the past who dragged canon over mountains; who sailed wooden ships into the unknown with both skin and bone in the game.
All we want now is protection. Protection from pain . Protection from suffering. Protection from risk, even protection from being a complete dumbass. Burglars who fall through skylights sue for your not having burglar proof skylights.
Can we afford all this safety? Maybe not.
I was looking for a picture from the 1970’s, a color photo of an OSHA cowboy, but all I can find now are ridiculous line drawings. The photo above of ironworkers in Brooklyn in the 1930’s was to have been the counterpoint, but it will have to be the point.
I think we can do better for our workers than the above, but we shouldn’t entirely protect them from responsibility for managing the risk. Safety must be the responsibility of the workers as well. Will we decline as a society when everyone is entitled and protected from responsibility for their work safety, for their medical problems, for their unemployment, for their retirement?
I fear so, but anyway, the world is definitely becoming more candyassed.
geosciencebigpicture 
Freddy Quinn, in the middle with out a shirt said he quit when safety belts, shoes and hats were required, too many buddy’s fell
Thanks Jim. Didn’t know that. Risk has a way of focusing the mind. I was a carpenter. We used to pin the blade guards out of the way on skilsaws to do difficult cuts. Could have been fired. The risk for those cuts is way higher with the guards. Buried a skilsaws in my leg one day because the housing screws came loose and the blade guard pinned itself. Ironic, no?