The politics of regulation: A comparative-historical study of occupational health and safety regulation in Australia and the United States

Australia and the United States adopt radically different approaches to occupational health and safety regulation, even though their ultimate objectives in this policy area are effectively the same. The US regulatory style is more centralised, legalistic and adversarial, in contrast to Australia's state-based and more consensual approach. This difference in regulatory approach dates from the 1970s: for the 100 years prior to that, workplace health and safety regulation in both countries took a similar legal, institutional and administrative form. The reasons for the contemporary regulatory divergence lie in the distinct national configurations of state and societal institutions in the two countries and the different constellation of political actors involved in regulatory design and reform.