Michigan Law Review · 1982 · 240 citations · 0 references
Labor RelationSafety ScienceAmerican Society.kelmanLawSafety PolicySafety LegislationHealth LawPolicy AnalysisRemarkable BookIndustrial RelationOccupational Health And SafetyBureaucracyLabour StudyPolitical ScienceOccupational DiseasePublic HealthPublic PolicyHealth PolicyRegulationComparative PoliticsOccupational SafetyComparative StudyLabor LawGovernment Administration
The study compares OSHA in the United States and Sweden’s ASV, highlighting how differing political contexts and union strengths shape occupational safety and health institutions. The authors aim to explain how the distinct societal contexts of the United States and Sweden influence the operations and outcomes of OSHA and ASV. The study finds that while OSHA and ASV make similarly protective rules, OSHA is far more punitive, relies heavily on inspectors, and involves lawyers and courts, whereas ASV’s enforcement is less punitive and largely non‑legal.
remarkable book...opens up new perspectives for study of bureaucracy and political in which governmental bureaucracies are embedded.... This is one of those rare books that actually governments...rather than simply offering descriptive accounts of two or more regimes.... Not only are differences [Kelman] observes between United States and Sweden striking, they are also in a way counterintuitive.--James Q. WilsonThe book undertakes a comparative examination of two government agencies--the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in United States and Arbetarskyddsverket or Worker Protection Board (ASV) in Sweden--that have same mission: prevention and control of work-related accidents and diseases. By exploring differences between two agencies by reference to societies in which they operate, study also compares American and Swedish societies themselves. This comparison illuminates development of adversary institutions in American society.Kelman contrasts political environments of two countries, noting that American unions are weaker than those of any other democratic industrial nation, while Sweden's are strongest; that United States alone among democratic industrial nations has no mass-based socialist or communist party, while in Sweden socialists held power continuously from 1932 to 1976. And these differences are reflected in attitudes of national leaders toward occupational safety and health. Thus, President Ford criticized OHSA as a dramatic example of over-regulation, while Prime Minister Palme saw fact that workers still risked life and health on job as a dramatic example of the failures of capitalism.Nevertheless, some of author's key empirical findings could not have been predicted on basis of these broad differences in political outlook. For example, Kelman finds that rulemaking decisions of two agencies were quite similar and tended toward more rather than less protective alternatives; that OSHA was far more punitive with regard to compliance than ASV and far more concerned with controlling field inspectors; and that lawyers and courts were highly involved in both rulemaking and compliance in United States and virtually uninvolved in Sweden. The book seeks to explain these findings.