ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the developments that occurred under the auspices of the coalition, both in relation to their underlying logics and their implications for worker protection. It explains a brief outline of the system of health and safety regulation in place when the coalition came to power and the policies pursued by preceding governments from the end of the 1970s. The chapter examines the evolution of policy over the period of coalition government from 2010. On coming to power, the coalition government, therefore, inherited an approach to the regulation of workplace health and safety that was already marked by reductions in funding to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), declining inspection and enforcement action and a desire to further minimize burdens on business. The central component of the current legal framework for workplace health and safety is the Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act 1974.
