EUCOSH Project on OSH in High Risk Sectors
Stewart Campbell
WORKSHOP ON WORK SAFETY RESPONSIBILITY SYSTEMS
WITHIN OSH INSPECTION SYSTEMS
15 – 16 APRIL, 2014, BEIJING
1

Health and safety and the industrial revolution (UK)
1750-1850
• Scale and nature of manufacturing;
• Power availability;
• Employment of children and women in industry;
• Long working days;
• Hazardous machines and hazardous substances;
• Public health.
2

Health and safety law – historical development (UK)
• Changes in focus — education, women and children, hours of work, wages, truck, safety, health, “well-being”;
• Addition of Sectors — Factories, Mines, Railways,
Docks, Shipbuilding, Construction, Agriculture,
Nuclear, Offices, Disciplined Services, Offshore;
• By 1970 — many separate inspectorates enforcing many separate laws.
3

• Unification of law
• Unification of inspectorates;
• Greater involvement of social partners;
• Extension of law to employees, self employed, members of the public;
• Widening of concept of health and safety.
4

• 19 th century: employers’ resistance to social reform gradually changing to grudging acceptance of responsibilities;
• 20 th century, first half:
– growth of employee rights and trade unionism;
– employers and employees beginning to work together
– enforcement of detailed law
– slow improvement in standards
– technological progress/rise in production/rise in accidents
5

• 20 th Century, second half:
– Awareness of health issues
– Recognition of need to manage OHS better and development of management systems
– Move from prescriptive, detailed legislation to goalsetting legislation
– Recognition of needs of SMEs/ artisans
– Dealing with major hazards
– Movement of high risk processes away from western
Europe
6

• 20 th Century, second half, (cont.):
– Free movement of labour
– Decline in TU membership
– Awareness of business culture issues
– Development of strategic approaches coupled with target setting
– Development of working programme
– Reduction in accidents coupled with rise in “new” health problems.
7

The international context and the influence of Europe
• International Labour Organisation
• International Association of Labour Inspection
• International Social Security Association
• European Community/Union
– Seveso
– Framework Directive and “daughter” directives
– The “general principles of prevention”
– Reshaping of national law;
– New and old Member States
– OSH strategy – where is it going?
8

• Consistent implementation of directives
• Labour law v health and safety law
• Labour inspection and health and safety inspection
• The influence of insurance
• Stress about stress
• Over-protection of children and the public and degradation in public/political view of OHS
9

• Professionalisation of health and safety
• The integrated approach to health and safety/public health
• Focus on sickness absence: stopping workers going off work/getting workers back into work
• Healthy working lives
• Impact of the economic crisis??????
10

!
11