CHEMICAL SAFETY OR ISOMORPHIC PROTECTION? AN ANALYSIS OF THE GENESIS OF THE DRAFT LEGISLATION ON ASSESSMENT AND CONTROL OF INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES IN THE LIGHT OF INSTITUTIONAL THEORY.

The main objective of this study was to identify isomorphic mechanisms - coercive, mimetic or normative - in the construction of the Brazilian draft law designed to monitor and control industrial chemical substances, in order to promote a reflection on the mechanisms of change that are under way, therefore, addressing some of the challenges in chemical safety governance, health and the environment. Firstly, a bibliographical review is presented on the context of chemical safety in Brazil and in the world, and on the theoretical reference in the field of institutional theory. The study was based on a content analysis of the 16 meeting memoirs of the working group established in May 2014 within the National Chemical Safety Commission (Conasq), to propose strategies, institutional arrangements and the draft legislation. The results were categorized, and there were identified processes and isomorphic pressures that affect the represented entities in the work group, generating, therefore, a preliminary scenario of the institutional situation and its functioning mechanisms that underlie the creation of the new chemical safety legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]