TABLE OF CONTENTS It is the object of this chapter to give a brief account of the principal legislation and of the legal background relevant to safety and loss prevention. The account is largely restricted to the situation in the United States. Previous editions of this handbook detailed UK law. The development of legislation on health and safety in the United States may also be followed through the references given in Table A1.4 in Appendix 1. In particular, attention is drawn to the problems of toxic chemicals in the workplace, of pollution and of transport; of litigation; and to the resulting legislation.
In general, it is probably fair to say that legislation has been tougher in the United Kingdom in some areas and in the United States in others, and also that the rate at which controls have been tightened has often been different in the two countries. It is worth emphasizing also that in these areas it is not sufficient merely to pass legislation it is necessary to enforce it. There has been, in both countries, a considerable tightening of methods of enforcement.
In the 1970s, the reoccurred in the United States, a very rapid development of public awareness of problems of health and safety, and of environmental problems, and a corresponding growth in the creation of controls in this area. In the United States, both State and Federal Governments are sources of legislation. In recent years the involvement of the Federal Government in health and safety legislation has greatly...
