This paper uses UK Health and Safety Investigation reports to examine the immediate causes of, and the circumstances surrounding, six accidents associ ated with the British chemical industry. On the basis of such concrete analyses of relatively minor incidents it is hoped to begin to contribute to an under standing of the extent to which, and the ways in which, accidents and disasters might be prevented in that industry. A number of causal factors are isolated, as ideological representations of the accident-worker relationship are rejected. Policy recommendations are then made which relate to both the internal orga nization and the external regulation of companies involved in the use, produc tion and storage of hazardous substances.
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