The Politician Who Inspected Factory Safety
State Labor Commissioner William Blackman visits Walla Walla to enforce safety laws while dodging rumors of a gubernatorial run.
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State Labor Commissioner William Blackman made a visit to the Walla Walla area to investigate alleged violations of state laws requiring protection for employees around dangerous machinery. Blackman, who serves as the state factory inspector and president of the State Federation of Labor, noted that most employers were willing to install safeguards once the necessity of the law was explained. Despite a growing state-wide movement to draft him as the Democratic nominee for governor, Blackman declined to discuss the matter, focusing instead on his labor arbitration work before heading to Portland to compile federal statistics.
“As a rule employers throughout the state are as anxious to protect their employes in this regard as we are to have them do so.”
Blackman's role as a state factory inspector serves as a pivot point in the history of labor regulation. His career highlights the era when states first began to formalize the government's responsibility to force private businesses to prioritize worker safety over operational costs.
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