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The risks of the very small
Created by assoceditor on 28/06/2012 16:16:16

EU-OSHA review has identified serious gaps in our awareness and communication of the potential risks involved in handling nanomaterials at work.


There are serious gaps in our awareness of the potential risks involved in handling nanomaterials at work, and serious shortcomings in the way that those risks are communicated to workplaces, according to a new literature review from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).

We are facing nanotechnology in our everyday life in many products and applications. Although health and environmental hazards have been demonstrated for some manufactured nanomaterials, they are used in food, cosmetics, textiles, paints, sporting goods, electronics, detergents, and many health and fitness products. And they are present in many workplaces, too. Currently, there are over 1,000 consumer products listed, produced by more than 500 companies in 30 countries. 300,000 to 400,000 jobs in the EU deal directly with nanotechnology and manufactured nanomaterials are handled in many more workplaces down the supply chain; 75% of them are small and medium-sized enterprises.

In its review of current research on the subject, EU-OSHA found that communication of the potential risks posed by such materials is still poor, with a majority of Europeans (54%), not even knowing what nanotechnology is. Even in workplaces where manufactured nanomaterials are found, the level of awareness is low. For example, 75% of workers and employers in construction are not aware they work with them.

There are some initiatives to communicate the risks of manufactured nanomaterials and how to manage these (though not always targeted at the workplace), for example by major producers, some trade unions, national dialogues within some Member States, and Europe-wide through the Communication Roadmap by the European Commission.

But much more still needs to be done (preferably jointly by policymakers, the social partners, national occupational safety and health bodies, public health agencies, sectoral associations, etc.) as poor risk communication may generate confusion and lead to unjustified fears or to underestimation of the risks, with consequent inadequate risk prevention and control, EU-OSHA states. Risk communication strategies need to help employers make informed decisions about their workplaces and put adequate prevention measures in place, and to empower individual workers to take personal control of their own situations in order to protect themselves adequately.

EU-OSHA has developed an on-line database of company Good Practice examples of good workplace management of manufactured nanomaterials which covers eight Member States and a variety of industries such as textile, construction and medical applications. Future work on the topic includes a web feature and short and practical information material on risk management tools for nanomaterials and for risk management of nanomaterials in maintenance, construction and health care.

Click here to access the EU-OSHA literature review. 

Source: EU-OSHA

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