Carter Roy

How many other industrial poisonings happen that we never learn about?

How many workers die with syphilis on their death certificates when the real cause is their employer's negligence?

The Radium Girls change all of that because their cases are among the first in American history where a company is held liable for the occupational health of its employees.

It establishes something we might take for granted.

Employers have a legal responsibility for their workers' health.

Before these women, that wasn't a given.

Now, it is.

In 1970, partly as a result of the radium girl's legacy, Congress creates the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA.

Today, every worker who puts on safety goggles, every employee who reads a chemical warning label, every person who benefits from workplace safety regulations,

They owe a debt to the Radium Girls.

Thank you for listening to Conspiracy Theories.

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For more information on the Radium Girls, amongst the many sources we used, we found the book, The Radium Girls, The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore and reporting by the Harvard School of Public Health, extremely helpful to our research.

Until next time, remember, the truth isn't always the best story.

And the official story isn't always the truth.

This episode was written and researched by Chelsea Wood.

Fact-checked by Sophie Kemp.

And engineered, video edited, and sound designed by Alex Button.