Which is why it was right that the government stepped in to ensure risks were managed in a reasonable way.
Working on farms in NZ many years ago, there were always old boys who eschewed any form of what they would now perhaps call health and safety nannyism – guards would be left off prop shafts and elevators, throttle safety releases held open with twine, etc. they believed the safety measures were unnecessary and slowed things down / made the job harder.
Yes, I was (nominally!) an adult and responsible for my own safety, equally I was the new boy in a macho (for want of a better word) culture that saw value in deliberately not mitigating the risks which existed in the working environment.
The girder boys may have believed they were taking responsibility for their own safety, but at the same time it may just have been that they needed work, this was the work they could do and they had no ability (either knowledge or company support) to properly assess and mitigate (sorry, couldn’t think of a synonym!) the risks they faced.