IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p12771-d934493.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Exploratory Study of Beryllium and UK Soft Touch Regulation: An Enduring Example of Weaknesses of UK Occupational Health and Safety Governance

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Watterson

    (Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, Stirling University, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK)

  • Matthias Beck

    (Department of Management & Marketing, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, T12 K8F Cork, Ireland)

Abstract

Smart regulation, better regulation, responsive regulation, business-friendly regulation and voluntary ‘self-regulation’ have their origins deeply embedded in UK policies in the 20th century. Their aim generally is to reduce workplace regulatory obligations on employers. This can overtly or covertly undermine efforts to improve working conditions. In the UK, the historical control and regulation of beryllium (a toxic metal used in industry) illustrates this problem, and as we illustrate through an exploratory analysis of original archival material and official publications. Soft touch regulation of the metal beryllium was developed within the UK semiconductor industry when tighter controls were proposed in the 1960s and 1970s. Historical industry, government and science responses to health and safety information about beryllium provide important lessons for current debates on occupational health and safety.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Watterson & Matthias Beck, 2022. "An Exploratory Study of Beryllium and UK Soft Touch Regulation: An Enduring Example of Weaknesses of UK Occupational Health and Safety Governance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-14, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12771-:d:934493
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12771/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12771/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Moretta & Steve Tombs & David Whyte, 2022. "The Escalating Crisis of Health and Safety Law Enforcement in Great Britain: What Does Brexit Mean?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-21, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sian Moore & Minjie Cai & Chris Ball & Matt Flynn, 2023. "Health and Safety Reps in COVID-19—Representation Unleashed?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-18, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12771-:d:934493. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.