We find that hedge fund activism decreases workplace safety. Consistent with managers cutting safety investment and increasing employee workloads to retain control, we find post-activism reductions in safety are stronger when managers face greater threat to their control. Inconsistent with activism reducing safety overinvestment, there are no significant increases in injury rates in firms with abnormally low injury rates before hedge fund intervention, and significant increases in violations of federal safety standards after intervention. The presence of other strong monitors, including dedicated institutional investors and labor unions, reduce managerial-induced safety reductions after hedge fund activism
