NCJ Number
229831
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 50 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2010 Pages: 46-65
Date Published
January 2010
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This paper documents the vulnerability of the UK workplace safety regime to 'regulatory degradation'.
Abstract
Following a brief overview of this regime, the paper examines the dominant arguments within academic literature on appropriate and feasible regulatory enforcement, arguing that the approaches to regulation thereby advocated have been easily degraded as a result of their compatibility with neo-liberal economic strategy. A subsequent analysis of empirical trends within safety enforcement reveals a virtual collapse of formal enforcement, as political and resource pressures have taken their toll on the regulatory authority. Finally, the paper indicates that the increasing impunity with which employers can kill and injure is particularly problematic as we enter sustained economic recession, and underlines the urgent need for regulatory alternatives. Figures and references (Published Abstract)