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I'm obsessed with the liability Imperial installations seem to carry in terms of worker accidents. (For instance, they build installations where you have insane drops, with no railings at all. We saw this recently I think on Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens.)

Mustafar is especially concerning. I recall a droid skimming on the actual lava on some sort of vehicle that offered scant protection. I know droids aren't considered people, but I got the strong sense biological organisms are working with the same lack of safety measures. (I understand that the natives of Mustafar have thick, heat resistant skins, but that's not going to help all that much if you fall 1000 feet into a river of lava!)

It seems pretty clear that the Empire (and probably the Tech Union, which had possession of Mustafar previously) aren't concerned with working conditions, but:

Was the Old Republic any better than the Empire in terms of worker safety standards?

Edlothiad
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DukeZhou
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    Obligatory post: I just want a railing - one railing - right here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bSZXucTH4A – RichS Jun 28 '18 at 21:18
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    A friend just says it's all about the lawyers: any fall that would injure you (and you'd sue) nets a railing. Any fall that would kill you (and you couldn't then sue) doesn't need a railing... – Ghotir Jun 28 '18 at 21:30
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    Ahem - They don't need railings.... https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/145062/20774 – Valorum Jun 28 '18 at 21:55
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    @TimSparrow can you justify why you think these are dupes? This one seems to be asking about safety standards with railings just being one aspect. It's also wanting a comparison between two time periods which the other question simply does not do. Although looking more carefully, the out of universe portion of that answer might sufficiently answer this question. – Edlothiad Jun 29 '18 at 10:08
  • @Edlothiad I do not see any new aspects of safety in this question, and railings issues are fully explained in the proposed duplicate. If it can be improved to include other concerns (eg. gas masks in hostile environments, restricted areas, use of droids only in hazardous situations, etc), I will retract the vote. – TimSparrow Jun 29 '18 at 10:11
  • @TimSparrow I've come to the conclusion I agree with you. The answers there seem to sufficiently cover the "no railings" and the out-of-universe aspect that it was a conscious decision for "all time" in the universe. – Edlothiad Jun 29 '18 at 10:13
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    This is not a duplicate. The suggested target is about railings in general in the Star Wars universe, while this question is specifically asking about whether there is a difference between the Republic and Empire. It's related, sure, and worth linking to as a related post or FYI, but not a dupe. – Robert Columbia Jun 29 '18 at 11:00
  • @Ghotir Thanks an excellent point! – DukeZhou Jun 29 '18 at 19:54
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    @RobertColumbia Thanks for the support. Indeed, what I am looking for here is a comparison between the Old Republic and the Empire, since the middle IV, V and VI seemed showed the Republic collapsing from internal, as opposed to external, pressures. For me this indicates potentially high levels of corruption, reinforced by the proposed hegemonic nature of the Jedi before Anakin restored some balance by murdering everyone. – DukeZhou Jun 29 '18 at 19:58

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Quite the opposite.

If you consider that the Empire hasn't been in place very long and that most of the infrastructure dates to the days of the Old Republic. The second death star can be considered to be one of the few pieces of large infrastructure that was constructed entirely under Imperial control.

The two fight scenes between Luke and Vader have safety railings. The climax fight on the Death Star has lots of safety railings, banisters and otherwise. It's why:

Vader has to lift the Emperor over the safety railing to throw him to his death.

Separatrix
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    I like this answer, but this was in the throne room. You'd assume the emperor would value is own safety more than that of a prole – Jeremy French Jun 29 '18 at 10:12
  • @JeremyFrench, you make a good point but we don't spend a lot of time looking around inside the second Death Star, so there's not a lot else to work with. It seems a very utilitarian place for a dedicated throne room mind you. – Separatrix Jun 29 '18 at 11:06
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    @JeremyFrench then again the force is with him.....I somehow don't believe he can make a misstep and fall to his death. – Thomas Jun 29 '18 at 15:23
  • Great answer. I'm guess that anyone with a workman's comp claim against the Empire likely disappears (or dies from old age before seeing a penny) but my guess is that the number of claims got so high, they were forced to start adopting some basic safety standards. – DukeZhou Jun 29 '18 at 19:54