The Triangle Shirtwaist fire was the horrific result of unregulated capitalism in which 146 people — mostly women — burned to death or were smashed on the pavement nine stories below the factory floor when fire raged through their Greenwich Village workplace.

Joe Paduda

The mind reels when contemplating the last moments of the victims, who moments before had been looking forward to a Saturday night with friends and family, and a Sunday (gasp!) off work.

When the fire below burst through the stairwells and floor, it found bins of dry cotton, wooden worktables, beams, walls and floors. There was no escape; the owners had locked the exit doors. The conflagration exploded in seconds, and women and men young and old were gone in moments.

And yes, this was foreseen and preventable. This, from David Drehle:

Despite the New York City fire commissioner’s well-publicized prediction that a deadly blaze in a high-rise loft factory was inevitable — and despite multiple small fires during working hours at the Triangle — the owners ignored a consultant’s advice to perform regular fire drills to train workers for an emergency. And they declined to enforce their posted rule against smoking near the highly flammable cotton scraps their workers snipped by the ton.

Long ignored, for over a century there was no memorial, no permanent reminder of the tragedy, no tribute to the mostly immigrant women who died that awful day. That ended when Mary Ann Trasciatti and others’ relentless efforts culminated in a monument. The steel runs along the building, listing names and ages of the victims and quotes from survivors. It will be completed early next year.

Good friend and colleague Rick Sabetta reminded me of this, and I am indebted to him.

What does this mean for you?

We would be well-advised to learn a lesson from days past, a lesson seemingly ignored by those looking to employ young kids in dangerous jobs and downplay the very real dangers of heat exposure in agriculture and logistics.

Joseph Paduda is co-owner of CompPharma, a consulting firm focused on improving pharmacy programs in workers’ compensation. This column is republished with his permission from his Managed Care Matters blog.