The immediate reaction of the Legislature in Congress to the fire was to set up an investigation of what really caused the fire. Upon seeing the gross amount of health and safety issues in the building, the investigation escalated and the Legislature created the 9-person Factory Investigating Commission to thoroughly find what needed to be regulated (“History of the…”). They specifically studied issues related to the health and safety of workers, the condition of the buildings in which they worked, and existing and additional necessary laws and ordinances. After investigating 1,836 establishments and interviewing 222 witnesses, the Commission issued their report including recommendations for laws (Rosa). The Commission’s proposal led to what is called "the golden era in remedial factory legislation." During the years 1911 to 1914, thirty-six new laws reforming the state labor code were authorized. After New York enacted these safety laws, other U.S. states echoed New York’s trailblazing legislation.
The 36 laws enacted covered improved sanitation conditions such as improved eating, washing, and toilet facilities and, of course, fire safety which included a call to increased emergency exits, installation of fire walls, and easy accessibility to fire extinguishers, alarm systems, and automated sprinklers. However, the Commission went even further in their investigations and included in those 36 laws were child labor codes, the prohibition of night work, and the beginnings of minimum wage. For years on into the New Deal 30 years later, these labor laws and building codes would continue to improve and insure safety for workers.
Another huge response that fueled the need to insure safety for workers was the rise of unions, also attributed to the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Although the government had a huge part in authorizing these new safety laws, the force that made it all happen was the crystallization of workers demanding better working conditions. Most of the women working in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory were a part of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) and the Womens' Trade Union League (WTUL) (Davis). Banding together with support from the AFL’s Samuel Gompers, who was a part of the Investigation Commission, union support gained strength and workers now had a way to communicate concerns in the workplace.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire remains as a catalyst for change in US history. The government’s unprecedented intervention in the workplace by establishing the Investigating Commission led to numerous laws on a state and federal level, thereon out establishing to ensure safety in businesses. Union involvement grew, as did their voices for change. The fight for better working conditions was now on the forefront, and the enacting of legislature for workers raising the standards in health and safety would forever remain a keystone in the American Labor Movement.