ILMA Compoundings September 2016 - 40

THE WHITE PAPER

Brexit: Global Consequences
for Workplace
Health and Safety?
Eugene M. White, Ph.D., M.S., CMFS

I

'm not an etymologist, but I do have a particular fascination
with the rapidity at which new words are entering into our
global lexicon. For example, the seemingly improbable
happened not long ago, when the citizens of the United
Kingdom (U.K.) held an election on June 23, 2016, that had
an interesting outcome - Great Britain voted to leave the
European Union (EU). "Brexit" - shorthand for Britain's exit
from the EU - became official and viral overnight, and it
promises to have reciprocal influences for the United States,
the U.K. and all of Europe. The United States is the largest
investor in Great Britain (more than $588 billion) and U.S.
companies employ over a million people connected with
British businesses.1,2 Since the support of workplace health and
safety (H&S) is commonly predicated on perceived stability in
governmental and fiscal systems, there's a lot of speculation
as to what effects Brexit will have on H&S inside and outside
Europe.

Brexit History in Brief

3

In 1951, six nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
Luxembourg and the Netherlands), joined to form a duty-free
trade area called the European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC) as a means to improve their respective economies that
suffered from the ravages of World War II. Subsequently, the
Treaty of Rome changed the ECSC to the European Economic
Community (EEC) (or Common Market), which eventually
became the EU as we know it today.
Initially, Great Britain's application to join the EU was rejected
twice (1963 and 1967) because of vetoes by France's President
Gen. Charles de Gaulle. However, in 1973 (three years after de
Gaulle's death), Great Britain was finally accepted into the EU.
However, after more than four decades as an important EU
member, various British political factions began to debate the
pros and cons of EU membership, a referendum was held and
those in favor of Brexit prevailed.

Brexit Health and Safety Connection
Like many of you, I have friends and colleagues in Great Britain
and, in order to get a better perspective and understanding of

Brexit from the source country, I contacted some of them who
are H&S scientists, administrators and industry consultants.
One thing I immediately discerned from talking with them was
the relative surprise and shock the passage of Brexit invoked
among the British populace, because even those who were in
favor of the exit measure didn't think it had a chance to pass.
Presently, there appears to be a collective "waiting to exhale"
mentality in Britain, since the timeline for how Brexit will be
managed, after approximately two years, will bring a certain
amount of uncertainty to all sectors of British society.
Universally, H&S activities tend to be soft targets during lean
or uncertain times, and no one I talked with about Brexit was
very optimistic about grants for research or other financial
support for ongoing H&S programs. In a sense, Brexit looms
over Great Britain and the rest of Europe like the impenetrable
murkiness of a London fog.
Understandably, there is much discussion among H&S
professionals on the Internet and various forums. Here are just
a few examples:
* It is "highly likely" that the U.K. will have less influence in the
development of further H&S laws post-Brexit up to the time
it officially exits the EU.4
* Post-Brexit, the U.K. now has less influence over EU law.
"Now (that) we're exiting, it's vital the U.K. continues to apply
our successful risk-based health and safety system, which
includes laws from EU directives, because it's been found
to be fit for purpose by several independent reviews and
is respected and imitated across the world," said Richard
Jones, head of policy and public affairs at Institution of
Occupational Safety and Health.5

Vol. 66 No. 9 * 40 * September 2016 Compoundings
ILMA Compoundings September 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings September 2016
