Health and Safety in Contemporary Britain: Society, Legitimacy, and Change since 1960 PDF
Preview Health and Safety in Contemporary Britain: Society, Legitimacy, and Change since 1960
Paul Almond & Mike Esbester Society, Legitimacy, and Change since 1960 Health and Safety in Contemporary Britain Paul Almond · Mike Esbester Health and Safety in Contemporary Britain Society, Legitimacy, and Change since 1960 Paul Almond Mike Esbester School of Law School of Area Studies, History, University of Reading Politics and Literature Reading, UK University of Portsmouth Portsmouth, UK ISBN 978-3-030-03969-1 ISBN 978-3-030-03970-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03970-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018962761 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: © iStock/Getty Images Plus This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For Natalie and Nicki, Rosie and Thomas A cknowledgements We are grateful to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) for funding and supporting the original research upon which this book is based. The project from which it draws, ‘The Changing Legitimacy of Health and Safety at Work, 1960–2015’, was a part of IOSH’s ‘Health and Safety in a Changing World’ research programme. The five-year programme was intended to explore the landscape of occu- pational safety and health and its implications for developing solutions that provide effective protection for workers and their communities. This book draws on the research and materials produced as part of that programme; we are very grateful to IOSH for their agreement for us to use this material for publication purposes. In particular, we are grateful for the assistance of Robert Dingwall (Nottingham Trent University/ IOSH Research Programme Director) and Jane White (IOSH Head of Research and Information Services). The excellent work undertaken as part of that IOSH-funded pro- ject by our research assistants, Carmen D’Cruz and Laura Mayne, was extremely important to the success of the research that underpins this book, and we gratefully recognise their multiple contributions. Thank you both. We would also like to thank the members of the project steer- ing group for their input and support, which was valuable in shaping the direction of the research: Graham Frobisher (Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group), Arthur McIvor (University of Strathclyde), Sarah Page (Prospect), and Neal Stone (British Safety Council). In addition, vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS at IOSH, Anne Wells provided access to archival materials, and Mary Ogungbeje provided practical assistance. We would like to thank the focus group participants and, in particu- lar, the 40 oral history interviewees (detailed in the Appendix), who will- ingly gave up their time and provided invaluable perspectives on some of the key issues of the past 60 years. We were assisted by a range of people in securing and conducting these interviews, including Jude England (British Library), Joscelyne Shaw (British Safety Council), Shahzeb Malik (IIRSM), Ryan Arthur (University of Reading), and John Wilkins (ex-UKAEA). Dave Hallam (University of Reading) provided his customarily excellent technological support to the interview transcrip- tion and analysis process. We would also like to thank Stavroula Leka and Aditya Jain, of the University of Nottingham, for their work on the quantitative data sets on public attitudes towards health and safety, which we draw on in Chapter 2. We are grateful to all of the archives which allowed access to their holdings. However, there were a few people and organisations who went beyond what might be expected and deserve special mention. The British Safety Council, via Neal Stone, Matthew Holder, and Chris Warburton, arranged access to the BSC’s archival material, at that point not publicly available. Similarly, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, via Jo Bullock, Helen Shaw and Anita Plumb, accommodated us and made RoSPA’s archive available. David Walker (University of Strathclyde) pro- vided important access to oral history testimony he had been involved in recording, notably dock and chemical workers. Those interviews, and many others of great value, are held that the Scottish Oral History Centre, archived in the University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections (http://atom.lib.strath.ac.uk/sohc-archive). Guy Baxter and the team at the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading, helped with regards to agricultural health and safety. Lesley Whitworth (University of Brighton) and the Brighton Design Archive were extremely helpful in locating material relating to design and safety. John Stedman and the team at the Portsmouth History Centre and Bob Russell and the members of the Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust provided great help with a variety of material related to working in and around Portsmouth. Finally, the staff at the TUC Library not only located material that we had requested, but directed us to additional material that they thought might be of inter- est—this was the case, and we are grateful for their initiative. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix We acknowledge the support and assistance of our colleagues and respective institutions, the Universities of Reading and Portsmouth, in particular a period of sabbatical leave which Mike used to work on this book. Our editorial team at Palgrave, Molly Beck, Oliver Dyer, and Carmel Kennedy, worked with us very constructively and have been accommodating when needed: this has been appreciated. Finally, the forbearance of our families has been given freely, and for that, we are grateful. Mike would particularly like to thank Nicki, Rosie, and Thomas Esbester for their support, patience, and humour, especially in the later stages of the writing process. Paul would particularly like to thank Natalie Almond, whose love, encouragement, and support have made all the difference, and is vastly appreciated, as always. September 2018 Paul Almond Mike Esbester c ontents 1 Introduction and Organising Ideas 1 2 Recent Public Attitudes Towards Health and Safety 21 3 Shaping Health and Safety, 1800–2015 43 4 A New Order? Constituting Health and Safety 79 5 Health and Safety in a Changing World 137 6 Health and Safety in Action 183 7 Justice and Values: Whose Interests Are Served? 239 8 Conclusions 291 Appendix: List of Project Interviewees and Selected Key Affiliations 307 Index 311 xi A bbreviAtions ACoP A pproved Code of Practice BMA B ritish Medical Association BR British Rail BRB B ritish Rail Board BSC B ritish Safety Council CBI C onfederation of British Industries COSHH C ontrol of Substances Hazardous to Health DETR D epartment of Environment, Transport, and the Regions DWP D epartment of Work and Pensions EC European Community EEF C urrent name of the former Engineering Employers’ Federation EMAS E mployment Medical Advisory Service EU European Union EU-OSHA T he European Agency for Safety and Health at Work FFI F ee For Intervention GCU G lasgow Caledonian University GMB C urrent name of the former General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union HELA H SE/Local Authority liaison committee HSC H ealth and Safety Commission HSE H ealth and Safety Executive HSWA H ealth and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 ICI I mperial Chemical Industries IoD I nstitute of Directors IOSH I nstitution of Occupational Health and Safety LA Local Authority xiii
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