Beyond Experimentation: Governing Occupational Safety in the United States (or - Core and Periphery in Regulation Governance)

Abstract:     
This chapter offers a critical assessment of a range of regulatory tools in the context of heath and safety regulation. It explores the struggles surrounding OSHA, an administrative agency fraught with budgetary constraints, political resistance, and a limited legal mandate. The chapter describes new programs that expand the responsibility of the agency's Office of Cooperative Programs and considers the effectiveness of new governance approaches that rely on stakeholder involvement, self-regulation, beyond compliance certification, and cooperative incentives. It demonstrates how attention to the organizational dynamics within workplaces and industries are key to successful implementation of such programs.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 29

Keywords: employment law, labor law, health and safety, administrative law, governance, OSHA, industrial relation, regulation, regulatory theory

JEL Classification: K1, K23, K42, K32, K31, J28, J5

Accepted Paper Series