Assignment 02

Assignment 02

Introduction

The Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) is the federal agency charged with protecting Americans from harm in the workplace. Housed within the Department of Labor, OSHA regulates the manufacture and transport of hazardous materials in the workplace and conducts inspections to ensure employer compliance with those standards. Although OSHA is one of the 22 federal agencies participating under the National Nanotechnology Initiative, OSHA has not issued any regulations or standards specific to nanotechnology (Dimartino, 2003). Indeed, it is only within the last two years that OSHA has even maintained a dedicated Website for addressing nanotechnology issues.

Nevertheless, employers are required by a “general duty” under OSHA to provide a safe workplace free from any recognized hazards. Moreover, OSHA does have a set of regulatory tools that may fit well within the framework of nanotechnology manufacture. Even though most of those regulations currently focus on worker safety around larger-sized (macro) particulates and aerosols, these regulations target that the same sort of health and safety issues that emerge around nanoparticle exposure: concerns with inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact. Despite the fact that nanotechnology manufacture in the United States is growing at a rapid pace (Tindall, 2010), OSHA has not actively addressed health and safety concerns about nanotechnology, primarily due to the scant health and safety research on nanotechnology.

Discussion

Growing gap between health and safety

Citing the growing gap between health and safety research and primary research on nanotechnology, OSHA has refrained from issuing specific nanotechnology regulations and has, instead, relied heavily on the National Institute of Safety and Health (NIOSH) to forward suggestions on the best practices for nanotechnology manufacture. Acting as OSHA's scientific research arm, NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NIOSH researchers conduct epidemiological, toxicity and risk assessment studies on workers and their environments. In 2005, NIOSH released its Strategic Plan for the study of Nanotechnology in the workplace and updated its findings in 2009.

Primary Responsibility

Meanwhile, the primary responsibility for instituting protective measures in the manufacture of nanotechnology products has fallen upon individual companies. Many of these companies have attempted to adapt the best practices for handling larger-sized (macro) particulates and aerosols to the nanotechnology context. As a result, health and safety practices are likely to vary from firm to firm, according to the company's location, particular business practices and size. At the same time, manufacturers are bringing novel nanotechnology-related products to the market at an ever-quickening pace. According to the Woodrow Wilson International Center's Project on Emerging Technologies (PET), which maintains an inventory of nanotechnology-related products, manufacturers are placing products on the market at a rate of three to five per week ( Holst, 2004). Indeed, the National Nanotechnology Initiative now maintains that private industry investment in nanotechnology already surpasses government funding.

Combined Forces

This combined force of private and public investment in nanotechnology only heightens the focus on production and investment return. In turn, even more workers are placed on the frontline of production without the guidance of tested safety precautions. Such uncertainties can exacerbate the typically uneven standing between employers and employees, which OSHA regulations are theoretically posed to ...