Organizational Response to Occupational Injury and Disease: The Case of the Uranium Industry

This study explores the factors associated with organizational action and inaction in the solution of an industrial health hazard. Obstructive and remedial variables are identified, measured, and tested. The research setting is the uranium mining industry, whose working population is experiencing a lung cancer epidemic due to radiation in uranium mines. The delay in actions leading to the reduction of hazardous radiation in mines is tied to national demands for uranium ore, the visibility of the hazard, and the structure of the industry. The eventual solution of the problem is shown to be affected by government pressure on uranium mining companies to purchase ventilation equipment.