A manufacturing plant exploded and left 16 workers dead in Bucksnort, Tenn., on Oct. 10, 2025, devastating families and communities while simultaneously raising concerns about safe work conditions.
The Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) company manufactured explosives and other devices for the United States military, which made the plant a hazardous workplace.
While the cause of the explosion is still unknown, it is imperative to understand how dangerous it can be to work in a factory today and how current regulations may not be enough to protect workers from deadly incidents.
In the early 20th century, factories were much more dangerous places to work than they are today. As a result of the unhygienic working conditions, journalist Upton Sinclair wrote “The Jungle” in 1905 to illustrate the horrors of working in a meat-packing factory, leading to reforms and the creation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Over time, other government agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were created to protect workers and ensure safe working conditions across all industries.
Since then, there have been more and more regulations. However, many modern factories still carry risks of injuries and death. Every year, approximately 140,000 workers are killed in hazardous work environments across all industries, not just factories, according to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). The question remains if death and costly accidents can be prevented in such facilities, especially in facilities storing explosives.
According to OSHA, factory employees handling explosives generally should not store, handle, or transport explosives when lives could be put in danger. Despite such precautions and specific instructions on how to handle explosives, accidents like the explosion in Tennessee are still at risk.
Common causes for fatalities can be toxic chemical exposures, plant explosions, fires, transportation incidents, disease outbreaks, and workplace assaults, which are all preventable. In fact, toxic chemical exposures can endanger the environment by endangering bodies of water, forests, and wildlife if not handled safely. But over the years, big corporations have negatively impacted their employees by lobbying against job safety and health regulations, disregarding the government’s duty to protect workers.
For example, Cavco, a company that manufactures homes in Austin, Texas, was found to be liable for exposing employees to several hazards in a 2023 inspection. This includes a lack of fall protection, improper use of ladders, failure to ensure safe walking surfaces, allowing overhead hazards, and more. Falls, slips, and trips are common causes of fatalities, which need to be reduced through more safety precautions.
While more regulations can be excessive and lead to the government micromanaging businesses, lives are at stake. Failure to protect workers from dangers increases the risks of disasters and can lead to more incidents like the plant explosion in Tennessee. Although more regulations can be costly, being liable for accidents can ruin a company’s reputation.
To minimize the dangers, corporations and companies should be held accountable for dangerous practices that put workers in vulnerable positions. Rules are implemented to protect, not to be ignored.
