ABSTRACT
Regulatory strategies for the management of chemical risks at work are much in evidence in current political debate at the level of the European Union. While this might be anticipated given the scale of the use of chemical substances and the extent of the associated health and safety problems already discussed, in fact such debate is of relatively recent origin. It has been occasioned by attempts by the European Commission to address the perceived failure of previous legislative efforts to produce a workable framework for chemical regulation and, in particular, by the Commission’s efforts to shift responsibility for risk assessment and control of chemical hazards from the state to industry.
