Governing Risks in Modern Britain: Danger, Safety and Accidents, c. 1800–2000

321 Pages·2016·3.5 MB·English

by  Tom Crook

GOVERNING RISKS
IN MODERN BRITAIN
Danger, Safety and Accidents,
c. 1800-2000
Edited by
TOM CROOK & MIKE ESBESTER
Governing Risks in Modern Britain

Tom Crook • Mike Esbester
Editors
Governing Risks in
Modern Britain
Danger, Safety and Accidents, c. 1800–2000
Editors
Tom Crook Mike Esbester
Oxford Brookes University University of Portsmouth
Oxford , United Kingdom Portsmouth, United Kingdom
ISBN 978-1-137-46744-7 ISBN 978-1-137-46745-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-46745-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016938643
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 016
The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identifi ed as the author(s) of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher,
whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation,
reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in
any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adap-
tation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter
developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub-
lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
This volume arises out of a conference held at Oxford Brookes University
in 2013. The editors would like to thank all those who participated in the
conference and to acknowledge the fi nancial support of the following insti-
tutions: Oxford Brookes University; the University of Portsmouth and, in
particular, the Centre for European and International Studies Research;
the Wellcome Trust; and the Economic History Society of the UK. Mike
would also like to thank his family, particularly his wife Nicki and daughter
Rosie, for their support and patience in the latter stages of preparation.
Finally, Mike and Paul Almond gratefully acknowledge the Institution of
Occupational Safety and Health, which has funded the research project
‘The Changing Legitimacy of Health and Safety, 1960–2015’, from which
their chapter is drawn. They also thank their research assistants, Carmen
D’Cruz and Laura Mayne.
v

C
ONTENTS
1 Risk and the History of Governing Modern Britain,
c. 1800–2000 1
Tom Crook and Mike Esbester
Part I Early Risk Societies 2 7
2 Risk, Prevention and Policing, c. 1750–1850 29
Francis Dodsworth
3 Rethinking the History of the Risk Society: Accident
Reporting, the Social Order and the London
Daily Press, 1800–30 5 5
Ryan Vieira
Part II Environmental Risks 77
4 Artifi cial Britain: Risk, Systems and Synthetics Since 1800 7 9
Chris Otter
5 Danger in the Drains: Sewer Gas, Sewerage Systems and 
the Home, 1850–1900 105
Tom Crook
vii
viii CONTENTS
6 Public Health and Public Safety: Disinfection, Carbolic
and the Plurality of Risk, 1870–1914 1 27
Rebecca Whyte
7 Risk, Time and Everyday Environmentalism in 
Modern Britain 149
Timothy Cooper
Part III Mobility and Leisure Risks 1 69
8 Drunk Driving, Drink Driving: Britain, c. 1800–1920 1 71
Bill Luckin
9 Risk on the Roads: Police, Motor Traffi c and 
the Management of Space, c. 1900–50 1 95
Chris A. Williams
10 ‘Maximum Supervision’: Risk, Danger and Public Water
in Post-War Britain 2 21
Glen O’Hara
Part IV Occupational Risks 2 47
11 Risk, Responsibility and Robens: The Transformation of 
the British System of Occupational Health and Safety
Regulation, 1961–74 2 49
Christopher Sirrs
12 Il/Legitimate Risks? Occupational Health and Safety and 
the Public in Britain, c. 1960–2015 277
Paul Almond and Mike Esbester
13 Conclusion: Governing Risks in Britain and Beyond 297
Arwen P . Mohun , T homas Le Roux , T om Crook , and Mike Esbester
Index 309
L F
IST OF IGURES
Fig. 5.1 ‘Water-closet with arrangements all faulty, compared with w.c.
with the faults remedied.’ Plate XVI in T. Pridgin Teale,
Dangers to Health: A Pictorial Guide to Domestic Sanitary
Defects (London, 1878). Published with the kind permission
of the Bodleian Library, Oxford 1 20
Fig. 6.1 Total deaths due to carbolic (accidents and suicides),
1863–1914. Figures derived from the Annual Reports of the
Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for
England and Wales 139
Fig. 6.2 Total suicides and accidental deaths due to carbolic,
1863–1914. Figures derived from the Annual Reports of the
Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for
England and Wales 140
Fig. 10.1 RoSPA, The Water Safety Book (London, 1976), p. 4.
Published with the kind permission of the Royal Society
for the Prevention of Accidents 239
Fig. 10.2 RoSPA, Be Water Wise (n.d., 1980s), p. 2. Published
with the kind permission of the Royal Society for
the Prevention of Accidents 240
Fig. 11.1 The proportion of workers covered by principal health and
safety laws in 1972 (millions of workers). Lord Robens,
Safety and Health at Work: Report of the Committee.
1970–2 (2 vols, London, 1972), I, p. 5 253
Fig. 11.2 The 1966 Aberfan disaster. W elsh Offi ce: A Selection of
Technical Reports Submitted to the Aberfan Tribunal
(2 vols, London, 1969), I, p. 33. Published with the
kind permission of the Bodleian Library, Oxford 264
ix