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Transcending the deregulation debate? Regulation, risk, and the enforcement of health and safety law in the UK

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  • Steve Tombs
  • David Whyte

Abstract

This paper considers the context for the development of the concept of responsive regulation, namely the transcending of the deregulation debate. It argues that claims regarding responsive regulation when allied to risk‐based rationales for enforcement can, in fact, allow a “deregulatory” momentum to develop. This argument is grounded with reference to a case study of the regulation of workplace health and safety in the UK, with a particular focus upon the period 2000–2010. The paper casts doubt on the relevance and robustness of the concept of responsive regulation. In a context that might have been fertile ground for developing genuinely responsive regulatory policy, empirically we find the development of policies that are better described as “regulatory degradation.” Thus we argue in this paper that, whatever the intentions of its proponents, there is a logical affinity between responsive regulation, and effective de‐regulation, and that it is this affinity that has provided a convenient political rationale for the emergence of a neo‐liberal regulatory settlement in the UK.

Suggested Citation

  • Steve Tombs & David Whyte, 2013. "Transcending the deregulation debate? Regulation, risk, and the enforcement of health and safety law in the UK," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 61-79, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:7:y:2013:i:1:p:61-79
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-5991.2012.01164.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Baldwin, Robert & Black, Julia, 2007. "Really responsive regulation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 23105, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Black, Julia, 2002. "Critical reflections on regulation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 35985, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    Cited by:

    1. Brown, Donna & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 2022. "Accidents will happen: (de)regulation of health and safety legislation, workplace accidents and self employment," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117890, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Matthias Beck & Andrew Watterson, 2022. "Privatization and Multi-Fatality Disasters: A Causal Connection Exposing Both Worker and Citizen Health and Safety Failures in the UK?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-12, October.
    3. Christine Parker, 2013. "Twenty years of responsive regulation: An appreciation and appraisal," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 2-13, March.
    4. Stephen Mustchin & Miguel Martínez Lucio, 2023. "The fragmenting occupation of labour inspection and the degradation of regulatory and enforcement work inside the British state," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(2), pages 526-546, May.
    5. Nicholas Lord, 2023. "Prosecution Deferred, Prosecution Exempt: On the Interests of (In)Justice in the Non-Trial Resolution of Transnational Corporate Bribery," The British Journal of Criminology, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, vol. 63(4), pages 848-866.

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