Professor Paul Almond

I joined the University of Leicester as a Professor in April 2022, having previously spent 18 years working at the University of Reading, where I occupied every role from temporary Teaching Fellow through to Professor and Director of Research. Before that, I completed my PhD (on the Corporate Manslaughter Offence) at the University of Birmingham. I am currently serving as Leicester Law School’s Director of Research, which gives me an opportunity to help support some of the fantastic research activity that goes on at Leicester Law School, and I teach on the LLB Criminal Law module.

My own research has tended to focus on issues relating to corporate crime, the regulation and governance of business and employer behaviour, and issues relating to health, safety, and welfare. I have published two books: Corporate Manslaughter and Regulatory Reform (2013, Palgrave), and Health and Safety in Contemporary Britain: Society, Legitimacy, and Change since 1960 (2019, Palgrave), and a range of journal articles and book chapters with around 15 co-authors around the world. My ongoing research interests include issues to do with the regulation of automated vehicles; mental health, burnout, and the workplace; health, safety, and enforcement; the history of UK safety regulation; and the politics and social profile of regulation.

I have held research grants funded by the ESRC, International Labor Office (ILO), and the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), and my work has been featured in national and international newspapers, TV, and radio.

My research interests lie in the fields of corporate crime and regulation, criminal law and criminal justice, public attitudes towards the law, and health and safety law and policy. I have published on these areas, as well as mental health, automated vehicles, money laundering, media coverage of regulation, sex offender rehabilitation, and research methods. I have authored two books:

• Almond, P. and Esbester, M. (2019) Health and Safety in Contemporary Britain: Society, Legitimacy, and Change since 1960, London: Palgrave Macmillan, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03970-7.
• Almond, P. (2013), Corporate Manslaughter and Regulatory Reform, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN: 978-1-349-32446-0.

I have advised external organisations including the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Institution of Occupational Health and Safety (IOSH), the British Safety Council (BSC), and others. Through my funded work with the ILO, I contribute to the writing and production of their Support Kit for Developing Occupational Safety and Health Legislation (2022).

Almond, P. and Kyd, S. (2023) ‘Brave New World: Legislating for the Future of Driverless Cars’, Criminal Law Review, 2023/1, 5-26.

Almond, P., Horton, R. and James, G (2022) ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing at Work in the UK: Current Legal Approaches’ Legal Studies, 42/4: 663-679, https://doi.org/10.1017/lst.2022.16.

Almond, P. (2020) ‘Workplace Safety and Criminalisation: A Double-Edged Sword’, in A. Bogg, J. Collins, M. Freedland, and J. Herring (eds.) Criminality at Work, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 391-408.

Almond, P. and van Erp, J. (2020) ‘Regulation and Governance versus Criminology: Disciplinary Divides, Intersections and Opportunities’, Regulation & Governance, 14/2: 167-183, https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12202.  

Almond, P. and Esbester, M. (2019) Health and Safety in Contemporary Britain: Society, Legitimacy, and Change since 1960, London: Palgrave Macmillan, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03970-7.

Almond, P. and Esbester, M. (2018) ‘Regulatory Inspection and the Changing Legitimacy of Health and Safety’, Regulation & Governance, 12/1: 46-63, https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12155.

Almond, P. and Gray, G. (2017) ‘Frontline Safety: Understanding the Workplace as a Site of Regulatory Engagement’, Law & Policy, 39/1: 5-26, https://doi.org/10.1111/lapo.12070.

Almond, P. and Esbester, M. (2016) ‘The Changing Legitimacy of Health and Safety, 1960-2015: Understanding the Past, Preparing for the Future’, Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 14/1: 81-96.

Almond, P. and Esbester, M. (2016) ‘The Changing Legitimacy of Health and Safety, 1960-2015: Understanding the Past, Preparing for the Future’, Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 14/1: 81-96.

Almond, P. (2015) ‘Revolution Blues: The Reconstruction of Health and Safety Law as ‘Common-Sense’ Regulation’, Journal of Law and Society, 42/2: 202-29.

Almond, P. (2013), Corporate Manslaughter and Regulatory Reform, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN: 978-1-349-32446-0.

Almond, P. and Colover, S. (2012) ‘Communication and Social Regulation: The Criminalization of Work-Related Death’, British Journal of Criminology, 52/5: 997-1016.

Almond, P. and Colover, S. (2010) ‘Mediating Punitiveness: Understanding Public Attitudes Towards Work-Related Fatality Cases’, European Journal of Criminology, 7/5: 323-38.

Almond, P. (2009) ‘The Dangers of Hanging Baskets: Regulatory Myths' and Media Representations of Health and Safety Regulation’, Journal of Law and Society, 36/3: 352-75.

I am interested in supervising PhD candidates in the fields of criminal law, regulation, criminal justice, and health and safety, as well as areas of labour law or criminology that relate to my broader research interests. I am currently supervising two students via the University of Reading:

• Will Page (SeNSS DTP scholarship): 'Privacy in Public Space: Reassessing Automatic Live Facial Recognition Technology'
• Mia Wick (SeNSS DTP scholarship): 'Addressing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in the International Aid Sector: Making the case for a human rights-based regulatory framework for INGOs'

I have also supervised a number of PhDs to completion, and acted as an external PhD examiner at a wide range of institutions.

I currently teach on the Criminal Law and Advanced Criminal Law modules. I have also taught Criminal Justice, Criminology, Public Law, and Legal Skills. 

• Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) (2019): £2000 awarded (‘‘Euromyths’ and the UK Regulatory Environment’)
• International Labour Organization (ILO) (2017): £8470 awarded (‘Elements of a Progressive OSH Law: Violations and Sanctions’)
• Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) (2013-16): £199,702 awarded (‘The Changing Legitimacy of Health and Safety Regulation 1960-2015’, with Dr Mike Esbester, University of Portsmouth)
• ESRC (2009): £99,862 awarded (‘Understanding Public Perceptions of the Social Significance of Work-Related Fatality Cases’; RES-000-22-3080)

• Almond, P. and Kyd, S. (2022) ‘Brave New World: Legislating for the Future of Driverless Cars’, SLS Annual Conference, King's College London, 08 September 2023.
• Almond, P. (2022) ‘Health and safety regulation – during and after the pandemic’, GELP/Employment Law Exchange ‘Employment Regulation Post-Pandemic: New Perspectives?’ conference, IALS, University of London, 13 July 2022.
• Almond, P. (2020) ‘Smoked Kippers and Red Herrings: ‘Euromyths’ and the UK Regulatory Environment’, Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, Exeter University, 04 September 2020.
• Almond, P. (2018) ‘Workplace Safety and Criminalisation: A Double-Edged Sword’, Criminality at Work workshop, University of Bristol, UK, 29 June 2018.
• Almond, P. and van Erp, J. (2017) ‘Regulation and Governance versus Criminology: Disciplinary Divides, Intersections, and Opportunities’, European Society of Criminology (ESC) Annual Conference, Cardiff University, UK, 15 September 2017.
• Almond, P. and van Erp, J. (2017) ‘Regulation and Governance versus Criminology’, European Working Group on Organisational Crime (EUROC) Annual Research Symposium, Utrecht University, Netherlands, 31 August 2017.
• Almond, P. (2016) ‘The Commodification of Safety’, European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Standing Group on Regulatory Governance Biennial Conference, Tilburg University, Netherlands, 6-8 July 2016.

My research has featured in the Independent, the Sunday Telegraph, and on BBC Newsnight, BBC News 24, BBC Radio 2, Radio 4 (the Today Programme), and Radio 5 Live, and in a wide range of local and professional media outlets.

Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP), University of Reading (2007)

PhD in Law, University of Birmingham (2004)

LLB Law and Politics, University of Birmingham (2000)