Paper provides safety ‘template’ for emerging technologies

Cincinnati — Drawing on the lessons learned from efforts to protect workers from the hazards associated with nanomaterials can help developers of new technologies ensure their safe use, researchers contend.

“Responsible development of emerging technologies requires anticipating hazards and risks and ethical issues attendant to them,” the researchers write in a recently published paper that outlines an approach to responsible development of such technologies in the workplace.

When the production of engineered nanomaterials began in the early 2000s, several factors prompted safety concerns, according to a press release from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Among them were the known adverse health effects of exposure to small and ultrafine particles.

“In response, international stakeholders called for responsible development of nanotechnology,” the release states. “Those efforts focused on five ‘criterion actions’ – related to identifying potential hazards, assessing exposures, communicating hazards and risks to workers, managing risks, and promoting safe development of nanomaterials.”

For safety and health professionals, these criterion actions can be used as a template or guidance for technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing (including additive manufacturing) and synthetic biology.

“A technology cannot be responsibly developed if worker safety is not a priority,” the researchers write.

The paper was published online in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.