A tale of two fires: igniting social expectations for managers' responsibility

Purpose – To compare and contrast the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the 1991 Hamlet, North Carolina, chicken processing plant fire to determine what lessons were learned and what lessons remain to be learned from the worst and second‐worst industrial accidents in the US. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses contemporaneous and modern sources to explore the parallels between the two fires and find some lessons for management in these two tragic events. Findings – A number of parallels were found between the two incidents. Lessons for practicing managers, domestic and international, are presented along with avenues for possible future research. Originality/value – This paper develops parallels between two tragic industrial accidents separated by 80 years in time and hundreds of miles in distance. Lessons learned from these accidents as well as lessons still to be learned are suggested.