Safe Design and Construction of Machinery

Dr Elizabeth (Liz) Bluff is a Director of the National Research Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulation and a Research Fellow with the Regulatory Institutions Network at the Australian National University. She has a Bachelor of Science (Hons), Masters of Applied Science in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), and a PhD for her research in the field of OHS regulation. Liz has worked in the OHS field for thirty years in positions spanning academic research, policy and standard setting, postgraduate education for OHS professionals and organisational OHS management. Her research is multidisciplinary with a focus on health and safety regulation and governance, risk management, safe design, and the sociological and psychological factors shaping safety performance and compliance with state regulation. Liz is the author of a number of peer reviewed articles relating to these research interests, and is also the author of Work Health and Safety Law and Policy, Thomson Reuters 2012 (with Richard Johnstone and Alan Clayton), and editor of OHS Regulation for a Changing World of Work, Federation Press 2004 (with Richard Johnstone and Neil Gunningham). She is a regular contributor to research reports, health and safety standards, and policies and strategies for national and state health and safety agencies and regulators in Australia.

• Introduction. The Legal Obligations for Designing and Constructing Safe Machinery. Machinery Manufacturers’ Performance for Substantive Safety Outcomes. Awareness of Legal Obligations for Machinery Safety. Encounters with Regulators. Practice, Learning and Performance. Assessing and Managing Risks. Motivational Factors and Performance. Conclusions, Theory and Policy Implications. Appendix Research Design and Methodology. References. Index.

’The design of machinery has implications for workplace safety. While modern safety legislation imposes duties on designers and manufacturers we know little about how these requirements work in practice. This original and incisive book fills this gap. It is based on painstaking research and detailed analysis of how workplaces have responded to regulatory requirements including European Union design standards and non-regulatory influences. Its findings have wide relevance, including a better understanding of how global supply chains affect workplace safety.’ Michael Quinlan, University of New South Wales, Australia ’This is a fascinating account of the practice of regulation through the lens of machinery safety. It connects local practice to the national and global market places and enriches our understanding of why a combination of legal, policy and professional pressures has failed to advance safety further. The book is meticulously researched, linking rich qualitative data to rigorous performance assessments. This is exemplary scholarship and deserves to be widely read.’ Bridget M. Hutter, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK