ABSTRACT

This eye-opening book shows how the rights of workers to safe and healthful workplaces are under greater attack today than at any time since the passage of the landmark Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970. This collection is organized around three thematic issues that pose significant challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ability to protect workers' safety and health. First, the economy has shifted from an industrial base to a white collar/service base, which includes more women workers than ever before - yet many of the safety and health problems that affect women are not being adequately addressed. Second, free market ideology and globalization have served to undermine worker safety and health laws. And finally, the effects of 9/11 have exacerbated the trend toward weakening workers' rights and safety standards in the name of national security.

part |57 pages

Free-Market Ideology and the Evisceration of Workers' Safety Rights

chapter |14 pages

Acts of God, Acts of Man

The Invisibility of Workplace Death

chapter |17 pages

Criminal Neglect

How Dangerous Employers Stay Safe From Prosecution

chapter |24 pages

Regulating Risk at Work

Is Expert Paternalism the Answer to Worker Irrationality?

part |81 pages

Old and New Challenges to Occupational Safety and Health in the United States

chapter |11 pages

Got Air?

The Campaign to Improve Indoor Air Quality at the City University of New York

chapter |32 pages

State or Society?

The Rise and Repeal of OSHA's Ergonomics Standard

part |81 pages

The Impact of Neoliberalism on Workers' Safety Rights Abroad

chapter |14 pages

The 10 Percenters

Gender, Nationality, and Occupational Health in Canada

chapter |30 pages

All That Is Solid Melts Into Air

Worker Participation and Occupational Health and Safety Regulation in Ontario, 1970–2000

chapter |18 pages

Health and Safety at Work in Russia and Hungary

Illusion and Reality in the Transition Crisis