Books: What 'Trapped Under the Sea' Teaches About Safety
Readers love a rescue drama and Neil Swidey’s new book, "Trapped Under the Sea" (Crown, $26), is an unforgettable review of how the final stages of the cleanup of Boston Harbor in 1999 turned into a disaster that killed two divers. It's also a warning about the dangers of "go fever," the tendency to rush a project to completion while overlooking potential dangers. The words suggest an overheated devotion to getting things done and getting paid.
The space flight disasters Challenger and Discovery brought "go fever" into public conversation. It is an everyday issue in construction, especially now that we have many larger and more complex projects that, while never reaching the complexity of space travel, extend far beyond routine work and deploy thousands of workers.