The changing nature of work and the regulation of health and safety

This chapter examines the challenges posed by changes in work arrangements in contemporary economies to the regulation of work health and safety. The chapter examines the hazards posed to workers by technological and structural change in developed countries and by the increasing precarity of work relationships. It then outlines the weaknesses of the twentieth century regulatory model, which, in its statutory duties and provisions for worker participation, focused chiefly on the protection of the health and safety of ‘employees.’ The chapter then explores the range of possible regulatory responses to these changes – including the Australian approach of protecting the health and safety of all persons who carry out work for a person conducting a business or undertaking.