A Socio-Legal Ethnography of the Right to Refuse Dangerous Work

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society (2002), Volume 24, Pages 133-169

19 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2011 Last revised: 27 Jul 2013

See all articles by Garry Gray

Garry Gray

Harvard University - Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics

Abstract

The right to refuse unsafe work and the 'internal responsibility system' represent a fundamental shift in ideology over how workplace health and safety is governed. Using qualitative data, I provide a grounded critique of this shift and demonstrate that the right to refuse is continually evolving through its everyday application; the local definition of what constitutes risk is constantly being negotiated. Even when workers do not formally use this right to deal with a hazard they still, nonetheless, engage in the local construction of how this safety right is conceptualized, defined, and exercised.

Keywords: safety culture, legal rights, risk, ethnography, regulation, compliance, organizations, individual responsibility, legal consciousness, safety voice, speaking up

Suggested Citation

Gray, Garry, A Socio-Legal Ethnography of the Right to Refuse Dangerous Work. Studies in Law, Politics, and Society (2002), Volume 24, Pages 133-169 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1743764

Garry Gray (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics ( email )

124 Mount Auburn Street
Suite 520N
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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