We are growing careless over hazardous activities in our search for more and more things on the cheap. This seems to be the effect of the worst aspects of the capitalist philosophy on our culture.
First there was the frightful error in the nuclear fuel processing plant in Tokaimura, Japan, where inexperienced and improperly supervised workers were allowed to mix by hand an enriched uranium oxide with nitric acid in bucketfuls, so allowing the formation of a critical mass and a blue flash followed by the emission of neutron radiation, the start of a chain reaction which might have been much worse. This accident created havoc in the locality, and it was providential that a Chernobyl-like situation did not arise. The question has been asked, why in the first place such a dangerous operation was necessary, and why in the second it was not supervised by an expert. In the same vein, it has been asked how it occurred that a consignment of radioactive material destined for France managed to be delivered in Oxfordshire.
As if that were not enough error, we have had to face the catastrophic railway crash near Paddington, in which it appears that there was neglect of safety measures affecting operation of signals and trains.
Such things happen because managements are set on reducing expenditure and maximising profit. There is little hope for a society in which precautions in managing dangerous procedures are omitted because of expense. Filling the pockets of directors and shareholders should never be given priority over safeguarding lives. Otherwise, anything may happen - and does.