Nanomaterials and Safety in the Workplace

The resources below describe current practices for occupational health and safety of nanomaterials in the workplace.

• Controlling Health Hazards When Working with Nanomaterials: Questions to Ask Before you Start. A visual tool designed to guide those who work with nanomaterials on how to prevent exposures. [NIOSH, 2018]
• Draft NIOSH Practices in Occupational Risk Assessment. A draft document describing the NIOSH risk assessment process including information on the risk assessment of nanomaterials. [NIOSH, 2018]
• Manufactured Nanomaterials in the Workplace. An overview of information salient to the use of manufactured nanomaterials in the workplace. [EU OSHA, 2018]
• Standard Guide for Handling Unbound Engineered Nanoscale Particles in Occupational Settings. A guide that “describes actions that could be taken by the user to minimize human exposures to unbound, engineered nanoscale particles in research, manufacturing, laboratory and other occupational settings.”. [ASTM International, 2018]
• Workplace Design Solutions: Protecting Workers during the Handling of Nanomaterials. A guide on exposure control options to protect workers who handle nanomaterials. [NIOSH, 2018]
• Workplace Design Solutions: Protecting Workers during Intermediate and Downstream Processing of Nanomaterials. A guidance document “on exposure control approaches for intermediate and downstream processes commonly used after the production of nanomaterials.”. [NIOSH, 2018] 
• Minimizing risk: An overview of risk assessment and risk management of nanomaterials. A summary of risk assessment and management of nanomaterials that integrates life-cycle considerations. [Shatkin et al., 2017]
• WHO Guidelines on Protecting Workers from Potential Risks of Manufactured Nanomaterials. Guidelines for policy makers and occupational health professionals on how to protect workers from potential manufactured nanomaterial risks. [WHO, 2017] 
• Building a Safety Program to Protect the Nanotechnology Workforce: A Guide for Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises. A guide on how to develop a nanosafety management program with a focus on small and medium enterprises, where resources may be limited. [NIOSH, 2016]
• Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) COSHH Essentials. A step-by-step online tool that helps users determine the best control methods based on the chemical and the process task. [Health and Safety Executive, n.d]
• Nanomaterials – A Guide to Good Practices Facilitating Risk Management in the Workplace. A comprehensive best practices guide to help develop a prevention program for nanomaterials covering general background information, hazard identification, exposure characterization, risk assessment, laws, prevention, and risk management. [IRSST, 2015]
• Personal Protective Equipment for Engineered Nanoparticles. A document that discusses how familiar exposure control approaches (a hierarchy of controls) can be used to reduce nanomaterial hazard and risk of exposure. [AIHA Nanotechnology Working Group, 2015] 
• Safe Handling of Nanomaterials and Other Advanced Materials at Workplaces. A guidance document that presents four decision criteria to help small and medium enterprises working with nanotechnology design appropriate occupational safety measures. [German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2015]
• Best Practice for the Safe Handling and Use of Nanoparticles in Packaging Industries. A best practices guide to allow the safe handling and use of nanofillers. [NanoSafePack, 2014]
• Current Strategies for Engineering Controls in Nanomaterial Production and Downstream Handling Processes. A document to “aid in the selection of engineering controls for the fabrication and use of products in the nanotechnology field.”. [NIOSH, 2014]
• Nanotechnologies – Occupational risk management applied to engineered nanomaterials Part 2. A standard that describes “the use of a control banding approach for controlling the risks associated with occupational exposures to nano-objects, and their aggregates and agglomerates greater than 100 nm.”. [ISO, 2014]
• Working Safely with Manufactured Nanomaterials. A guidance document that presents information for workers who may be exposed to manufactured nanomaterials. [European Commission, 2014]
• Guidance on the protection of the health and safety of workers from the potential risks related to nanomaterials at work. A guide specifically for employers to fulfill their regulatory obligations whenever exposure to nanomaterials or use of nanotechnology is likely to take place. [European Commission, 2013]
• Respiratory Protection for Workers Handling Engineered Nanoparticles. Guidance from NIOSH on selecting the appropriate respirators for workers handling nanomaterials. [NIOSH, 2011]
• Approaches to safe nanotechnology: managing the health and safety concerns associated with engineered nanomaterials. A review of what is currently known about nanoparticle toxicity, process emissions and exposure assessment, engineering controls, and personal protective equipment. [NIOSH, 2009]
• Comparison of guidance on selection of skin protective equipment and respirators for use in the workplace: manufactured nanomaterials. Direction on how to choose skin protective equipment and respirators based on qualitative hazard and exposure assessments, recognizing the gaps in data for occupational nanomaterial exposure. [OECD, 2009]
• Guide to Safe Handling & Disposal of Nanomaterials. A guide that presents a general framework for how to assess and manage risks from nanoparticles and implement and effective strategy. [BSI, 2007]
• Other NIOSH resources are available