ABSTRACT
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, similar to Sweden. But the conditions which early industrial capitalism created for workers and their families were anything but idyllic: Such is the condition of the English manufacturing proletariat. The Factory Act of 1844 required “Certifying Factory Surgeons” whose sole function was to verify that children were old enough to work. During the rising economy of the late 1880s and early 1890s, worker agitation for safer workplaces grew. However important the workers and their unions are, the 1974 Act continued to place the overall responsibility for occupational safety and health (OSH) on the employer. And the National Health Service, the largest employer in the country, is one of the poorest when it comes to providing OSH services. The system of well-trained union Safety Representatives helps assure the workers’ right to know what hazards they are facing and what can be done about them.
