In the trial conducted after the triangle shirtwaist factory fire, new york city fire marshal william l. beers gave this testimony:

question: did you examine the fire-escapes of that building?
after the fire.
question: what did you find?
i found the fire-escape on the rear of the building, which was the only one, and was entirely inadequate for the number of people employed in that building.

how did testimony such as this from the triangle shirtwaist factory disaster affect the workplace?

state and federal governments began to take measures to protect the safety of workers.
factory owners were required to allow unions to take steps to protect worker safety.
the courts ruled that the government could not interfere in matters of workplace safety.
factory owners improved working conditions but cut wages and lengthened the workday.