Regulation and Risk

Regulating the risks associated with economic activities is a feature of modern societies and one in which the state increasingly seeks to co-opt the regulatory powers of corporations. This book examines the impact of a system of enforced self-regulation on the corporate life of British Railways. It uses this case study of occupational health and safety regulation to focus on broader theoretical and empirical discussions of regulation, risk, and corporate activities.A central organizing perspective of this book is that regulation is a form of risk management. It examines how workplace risks in modern societies are managed by businesses and the individuals within them and considers what influence the law has in this. The tensions between the constitutive and controlling aspects of regulatory law are analysed with reference to in-depth empirical data about corporate and individual compliance and non-compliance. Related concerns about the social control oforganizational and economic life are explored and their policy and theoretical implications examined. These issues are especially significant following the privatization of Britain's rail network and the introduction of regulatory systems which are highly reliant on industry self-regulation. More generally, their significance is highlighted by the increasing popularity of risk-based approaches to corporate governance. The book argues that if regulation is to be an effective way of managing risk we need to pay more attention to the assumptions we make about corporate life and be more preparedto use the full range of regulatory sources and tools available to us.

This excellent book is an important contribution to the regulatory debate., ...thorough and well-argued analysis of health and safety work in a large organisation.

Bridget Hutter is the Peacock Professor of Risk Management at the London School of Economics and Director of CARR ( Centre for Analysis of Risk Regulation). She is author of numerous publications on the subject of regulation. Her research interests are in the broad area of the sociology of regulation and risk management; the regulation of economic life with particular reference to financial, occupational health and safety, and environmental regulations; regulatoryenforcement and corporate responses to regulation; and the social control of organizations.