INTRODUCTION

The UK chemical industry is the third largest in Europe, after Germany and France, accounting for some 14 per cent of production in the EU. Chemical substances are also used by large numbers of workers in other industrial sectors as well as in services. HSC has estimated that there are some 1.3 million firms that use chemicals and chemical products. Many of these are small and micro enterprises. According to the European Foundation's survey of working conditions about 20 per cent of British respondents thought they were exposed to breathing in fumes, dusts or dangerous substances for a quarter or more of their work-time which is slightly less that the average for the EU 15 countries as a whole (22 per cent). While somewhat more than the average for the EU 15 countries (nearly 20 per cent) thought they handled dangerous products or substances in their work (EU 15 15.6 per cent) (European Foundation 2001).

In this chapter we consider the role of OELs in the system for regulating the management of risks of hazardous substances in UK workplaces. As in several other countries, regulatory status was attributed to OELs in the 1980s in the UK. But perhaps more than in other countries, the limitations of this regulatory role have been the subject of considerable scrutiny and policy change.

In seeking to understand the recent shifts in the position of OELs in regulatory policy it is necessary to trace several related narratives in the story of their use...