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Occupational Safety and Health Policy in Nano Fields 2017.12.19
Author : KOSHA 첨부파일The attached file(1)

Occupational Safety and Health Policy in Nano Fields

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute of KOSHA publishes guidelines on the health protection of workers handling manufactured nanomaterials

Ranked 3rd globally for the number of patents in nano fields, and the commercialization performance for the recent five years was 3,512 cases, increased by 40.1% on annual average

 

<Press release on the implementation plan of developing nanotechnology in 2017, March 14, 2017, Ministry of Science and ICT>

 

□ The Ministry of Employment and Labor(MOEL) and the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute(OSHRI) of KOSHA publish guidelines on the health protection of workers handling manufactured nanomaterials*

* All chemicals made of nano sizes by using nanotechnology

□ The growth in nanotechnology increased the number of workers handling manufactured nanomaterials. There is concern about the occurrence of health hazards increasing, but the correlation between manufactured nanomaterials and health has not been clearly clarified until now.

○ MOEL is expanding the policy to protect workers even though no risks have been identified based on precautionary principle**. These guidelines are also a part of such policy.

** Precautionary principle: In the case where a danger to public health and environment is suspected, but there is a lack of scientific evidence, it is a risk management act that regulate and respond in advance. According to this principle, the hazards of nanomaterials are managed in the European Union and the United States.

 

□ These guidelines consist of 7 chapters in total, including hazards of nanomaterials and exposure assessment. Also, the information needed to make business owners and workers understand and establish exposure reduction strategies are provided.

※ Distributed through KOSHA’s regional offices and area offices and worksites handling nanomaterials by the end of this year and will be uploaded to the Publication section on KOSHA’s website (http://www.kosha.or.kr).

□ Staff of KOSHA said, “Due to the development of technology, we face multitude of risks that we have not experienced before.”

○ He said, “KOSHA will analyze and predict these risks and make continued efforts to create safe industrial settings for workers.”

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