In Young Men and Fire, Norman Maclean searches for the cause of the Mann Gulch wildland fire of August 5, 1949, in which 13 firefighters died. He asks the question many if not most safety managers ask at some point: “Did any good, any good at all, come of this?”
Maclean’s writing resonates with the experiences of many safety and health professionals. He tells of “conscience-stricken improvements” that seemingly have always been a knee-jerk reaction to workplace deaths or serious injuries.