When does a worker's death become murder?

During the past 2 decades, a growing number of manslaughter and even murder charges have been brought against employers in cases involving the death o f workers on the job. In this commentary, the author reviews some of these recent cases and looks at other periods in American history when workers' d eaths were considered a form of homicide. He examines the social forces that shape how we define a worker's death: as an accidental, chance occurrence for which no individual is responsible, o r as a predictable result of gross indifference to human life for which man agement bears criminal responsibility, He asks whether there is a parallel between the conditions of 19th-century laissez-faire capitalism that led to popular movements promoting workplace safety and the move in recent decade s toward deregulation and fewer restraints on industry that has led state a nd local prosecutors to criminalize some workplace accidents. Despite an increased federal presence, the activities of state and local di strict attorneys perhaps signal a redefinition of the popular understanding of employers' responsibility in maintaining a safe workplace.