Corporations use relabeling and comparison to minimize hazard severity.
Evidence
Silica dust does not lend itself to justification in terms of personal and large-scale societal benefits. However, it is subject to the usual sanitizing language and mitigating comparisons; for example, silica dust becomes “nuisance dust.” At a national conference, other industrial hazards were used to downplay the seriousness of silicosis: “From a statistical point of view, therefore, the problem of silicosis is not as serious or general as some other industrial problems, such as lead poisoning or industrial accidents” (U.S. Department of Labor, 1937). — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1795
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content