“AT A TEXAS FOUNDRY, AN INDIFFERENCE TO LIFE.” A horrific story. I can’t bring myself to quote the most gruesome details, but this will give you the flavor; everything that follows is from the NYT:

On June 29, 2000, in his second month on the job, Mr. Hoskin descended into a deep pit under a huge molding machine and set to work on an aging, balky conveyor belt that carried sand. Federal rules require safety guards on conveyor belts to prevent workers from getting caught and crushed. They also require belts to be shut down when maintenance is done on them.

But this belt was not shut down, federal records show. Nor was it protected by metal safety guards. That very night, Mr. Hoskin had been trained to adjust the belt while it was still running. Less downtime that way, the men said. Now it was about 4 a.m., and Mr. Hoskin was alone in the cramped, dark pit. The din was deafening, the footing treacherous under heavy drifts of black sand.

He was found on his knees….

It was not just a conveyor belt that claimed Mr. Hoskin’s life that warm summer night. He also fell victim to a way of doing business that has produced vast profits and, as the plant’s owners have admitted in federal court, deliberate indifference to the safety of workers at Tyler Pipe.

[clipped]

…To keep up production, McWane eliminated one of three shifts; instead of three shifts of eight hours, there were two 12-hour shifts. At the end of a shift, supervisors often marched through yelling, “Four more hours!” So employees worked 16-hour days, sometimes seven days a week.

[clipped]