ABSTRACT
Health and safety at work usually only hits the headlines when there is a major disaster. Unfortunately, in recent years there has been an unprece dented number of these and we can still recall with horror the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, the Kings Cross fire, the Piper Alpha explosion, and, most recently the Paddington rail crash. Although all of these involved the activ ities of people at work, one circumstance that made them particularly news worthy was that, with the exception of Piper Alpha, the majority of people who suffered as a consequence of the incidents were members of the public. It is a sad fact that, although society reacts keenly to disaster, by immediately establishing public inquiries and instigating extra safety measures, there is much less interest in the steady toll of individual deaths, injuries, and cases of disease which occur due to activities at work.
