ABSTRACT
The connected themes of ‘health’ and ‘work’ are not new for sociology. However, fifteen years after the passing of the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act (HSW), there is a need for a new perspective on occupational health in the UK. This need arises as a result of changes in industrial and economic processes, and needs to build upon theoretical developments of the 1970s and 1980s. Some of these changes and developments are discussed in the first part of this paper. Changes in the economy, in the labour process and in patterns of employment have raised new questions about occupational health for the 1990s. As well as responding to the continuing problem of industrial accidents and acute ill health, there is a need for effective policy and theoretical approaches to problems of chronic ill health and occupational stress, neither of which are adequately dealt with by existing policies. In addition, perspectives and definitions of occupational health problems have broadened during the 1980s, raising questions about the nature of risks and hazards, as well as the groups of workers affected. The development of a feminist perspective has been important, and attention needs to be paid to the problems faced by women in both their paid and their unpaid work. Finally, the changed political climate of the 1980s raises questions about the future of health and safety policy in the UK.
