ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the knowledge of workplace risk management through synthesizing a diverse range of theory, drawing together thinking around flexible specialization, the nature of jobs, and employment arrangements that significantly influence workplace risk. It discusses the perceptions of opportunities for and threats to workers in the late-modern economy, reflecting upon personal experiences. The chapter explores theoretical and theoretical perspectives on the nature of jobs and employment contracts, and then turn to discuss theory focused upon flexibility in production. The risk society thesis predicts that in the workplace employees face increased distributive risks associated with their terms and conditions of employment, the trade-off between contractual flexibility and employment security, and the intensity and nature of work. The chapter examines the insecurity of contingent work is associated with disruption in the temporal nature of work, with employers searching for efficiencies able to control contingent workers' hours in accordance with production or service requirements.
