At a guess, fatalities have always been bad for business. The decline just represents a decline in jobs that tend to kill people (Vox is really bad with ignori

At a guess, fatalities have always been bad for business. The decline just represents a decline in jobs that tend to kill people (Vox is really bad with ignoring this sort of association). I can't seem to find good pre-OSHA injury data (because OSHA are the only people counting), but that's where I'd expect to see the difference. You can run a business assuming injuries will happen, but pretty much everyone tries not to kill workers.