[originaltext] [32] In the past industries had more freedom than they have n

[32] In the past industries had more freedom than they have now, and they did not need to be as careful as they must today. They did not need to worry a lot about the safety of the new products that they developed. They did not have to pay much attention to the health and safety of the people who worked for them. Often new products were dangerous for the people who used them; often conditions in the work place had very bad effects on the health of the workers.
     Of course sometimes there were real disasters which attracted the attention of government and which showed need for changes. Also scientists who were doing research into the health of the workers sometimes produced information which governments could not ignore. At such times, there were inquiries into the causes of the disaster or the problems. New safety rules were often introduced as a result of these inquiries; [33] however, the new rules came too late to protect the people who had died or become seriously ill.
    Today many governments have special departments which protect customers and workers. In the U.S., for example, there is a department which tests new airplanes and gives warnings about possible problems. It also makes the rules that aircraft producers must follow. Another department controls the foods and drugs that companies sell.  [34] A third department looks at the places where people work, and then reports any companies that are breaking laws which protect the health and safety of workers.