Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain
Wiper Loom

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Working with machinery in the cloth industry was very dangerous. The initial cloth manufacturing machines had unprotected "belts" (it was cheaper not to cover the belts, gears, etc.) and the fingers, hands, arms, feet and legs of workers (and sometimes the entire worker's body) were often caught in these machines, thus maiming or killing the workers. Time is money, so the machines were not stopped when they required maintenance. Workers cleaned the runnung machines and were caught in the belts. As the workers were often children that during long, uninterrupted work shifts, were lesss attentive, thus providing even more reasons why they were injured. As the workers were malnourished, they were often faint: such working conditions contribute to fatigue and accidents. Cloth fibers caused lung diseases. An cursory examination of this "Wiper Loom" is sufficient: the unprotected belts are easy to observe. An examination of how the workers are depicted in etchings or photographs from the Victorian age will show that unprotected belts such as in these "Wiper Looms" were typical of the work environment. This was an age without workers health benefits, or even meagry (unenforced) governmental regulations concerning workplace accidents. This was the age of Laissez-faire. Unfortunately, times haven't changed much, nor even the excuses.

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