This open access book addresses relationships that develop from the complex set of legislative
regulatory and institutional arrangements that arise in the governance of high-hazard
industries especially those connected with safety. It analyses the difference in practices
between high-hazard sectors such as nuclear power chemical processing and transport with
those in the finance and healthcare sectors. The relationship between regulating and regulated
entities is important in ensuring that safety is not subordinated to other concerns and in
maintaining public confidence. As a result the brief addresses various pressures and
trade-offs inherent in that relationship trade-offs between such considerations as: cost of
the oversight activity and its effectiveness regulator independence and its level of
competency and understanding of the risks involved ability to provide advice on meeting
regulatory goals and being able to criticize decisions made and effectiveness and intrusion in
operational activities. The contributors show how over time a more horizontal or decentred
approach to regulatory oversight has appeared with a larger degree of delegation of certain
decisions to industry and a greater role for a range of third parties such as certification
bodies auditors insurers industry associations and NGOs. This book is of interest to
academics working in the fields of safety science or organizational management and to
practitioners regulators and policy-makers concerned with health and safety and critical
infrastructure.
