Within the EUproject NanoValid, BAuA organised a workshop on practical guidance for the safe use of nanomaterials. The workshop will raise awareness to OSH experts and other interested persons from research institutions, start-ups, industry, labour inspectorates, etc., who can provide practical experiences in this field.

Within NanoValid, a draft guidance on the state of the art of safe handling of nanomaterials at workplaces was developed in cooperation between BAuA (Germany), NRCWE (Denmark), CRF (Italy) and Nanologica AB (Sweden). Based on this guidance, training material were generated for responsibles for the implementation of occupational safety and health issues at company level, but also for those working in labour inspection.

The workshop addressed the following topics:

• Are the recommendations and the level of detail of the draft guidance document adequate for practical use, especially in research institutions and start-ups with limited access to OSH professionals?
• Is there need for additional or less information?
• Would a more legally binding character of the recommendations support its practical usefulness?
• Which design should be used for the training materials (content, media and language)?
• How can dissemination be supported by NanoValid partners and beyond?

The programme and presentations of the conference can be downloaded below.

Programme (PDF, 54 KB)

Do we need to validate existing methods for risk assessment of nanomaterials? (PDF, 1 MB)
Rudolf Reuther, Nordmiljö AB, Sweden

Chemical safety, occupational safety and health - The regulatory framework (PDF, 697 KB)
Dr. Rolf Packroff, Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Germany

Toxicology - How to address health hazards of nanomaterials? (PDF, 936 KB)
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gebel, Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA), Germany

Engineered nanomaterials - Considerations of the Working Group of the German Committee for Hazardous Substances (PDF, 443 KB)
Dr. Stefan Engel, BASF SE, Germany

Do we need more than Guidance? (PDF, 1 MB)
Clarissa Eickholt, systemkonzept, Germany

Practical requirements of small and medium sized enterprises for working safely with nanoparticles (PDF, 180 KB)
Dr. Ralph Nonninger, German Association of Nanotechnology e. V. (DV Nano), Germany

Tiered approach for assessing risks at work places (PDF, 6 MB)
Dr. Christof Asbach, Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology e. V. (IUTA), Germany

Assessing and reducing risks for a sustainable development (PDF, 2 MB)
Dr. Emeric Fréjafon, French National Institute for industrial and environmental risk assessment (INERIS), France

Briefing on the occupational safety starting point regarding handling of nanomaterials (PDF, 307 KB)
Dr. Rolf Packroff, Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Germany

Safe handling of nanomaterials at workplaces: state of the art and break up into parallel working sessions (PDF, 3 MB)
Dr. Miriam Baron, Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA), Germany

Working Session 3: Practical guideline - What do we expect? (PDF, 46 KB)
Dr. Rolf Packroff, Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Germany

Conclusions (PDF, 63 KB)
Dr. Rolf Packroff, Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Germany