Why the phrase ‘health and safety’ sparks hostility among so many Britons despite regulation saving thousands of lives is to be examined by historical and legal scholars.
A new study, led by the University of Reading in partnership with the University of Portsmouth, and funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), will examine how the social standing and perceived value of health and safety (H&S) regulation has changed over the last 50 years.
Professor Paul Almond, from the University of Reading’s School of Law and the project’s Principal Investigator, said: “Health and safety regulation is an important area of law that affects everyone. Events like the Piper Alpha oil rig fire, the 25th anniversary of which recently passed, and the more recent incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon BP disaster in 2010, illustrate the need for laws that protect people from the harmful side-effects of work.
“Up until the end of the 1960s, health and safety law consisted of a large number of very prescriptive and complex laws governing different hazards. They were enforced by a multitude of regulators, and applied to an industrial and manual workforce, where rates of death, injury, and illness were stubbornly high. However the law has evolved to apply to a largely office-based, service-sector economy.
“Rates of injury and death have fallen, and health and safety management is an accepted part of business. But public hostility towards ‘elf and safety’ has increased dramatically, with negative media coverage of these issues coming to the fore. So why do we seem to think so badly of laws that, on the face of it, to have been a success story and what can be done to alter public perception.”
For legal advice on issues relating to work related injury or any other legal problems you may have, please complete our online enquiry form or call us on 0141 221 1919.
