The biggest difference between now and then would be the level of resources dedicated to workers safety, both by the companies and the government. OSHA just celebrated it's 30th anniversary with much to be proud of. As an agency that catches more crap than they deserve, they have made a huge difference in the workers life and his/her family benefits from this. Sure there is a lot of room for improvement, but don't bitch at the safety professional or at OSHA...WRITE YOUR BLASTED CONGRESSMAN and give them the crap, it is the politicians that can screw up a steel ball. In a basic OSHA class I teach, I tell my students that OSHA rights the regs they way they need to be written, then the politicians get paid off by the lobbyist and out comes a screwed up, un-enforceable standard that has so many loop holes in it, it looks like Swiss cheese!
