Jobs and Bodies: an Oral History of Occupational Health and Safety

This book is an oral history of occupational health and safety in post-Second World War Britain, exploring the relationship between work and the body through the personal lens of workers' voices, memories and narratives. The monograph draws upon a wide range of primary sources, notably some 150 or so oral interview testimonies and a series of work-health stories from the Mass Observation (MO) Archive. It tells the story of British workers and how their employment affected their bodies in the period from Second World War to the present; from blue-collar workers in heavy industries to stressed-out office workers and those exposed to infection at work, including Covid-19. The final chapter evaluates the occupational health movement, focusing on the role of working class environmentalism, trade unions and voluntary advocacy and campaigning groups in 'pushing back' against managerial exploitation and corporate irresponsibility.