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Occupational and environmental safety standards in nanotechnology: International Organization for Standardization, Latin America and beyond

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Guillermo Foladori
Guillermo Foladori*
Affiliation:
Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Mexico
*
Guillermo Foladori, Unidad Académica en Estudios del Desarrollo, Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Av. Preparatoria S/N, Col. Hidráulica, Zacatecas 98000, Mexico. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In the absence of government safety regulation in the field of nanotechnology, ISO standards are being used as the basis for establishing technical and management guidelines at an international level. There are more than 50 current ISO standards on nanotechnology. Some of these relate to the working environment and occupational risk management. In Latin America, entities that are members of ISO are enunciating national versions of the international standards. In this article, this context is analysed critically, starting from the Mexican standard on occupational risk management in the working environment. Even though risk management standards may guarantee better and safer working conditions, in the field of nanotechnology, they simultaneously unlock detrimental implications for workers and society. Reliance on such private and voluntary forms of industry self-regulation is identified as a by-product of global neoliberalism.

Keywords

I19J52K32Corporate self-regulationenvironmental risk managementISOlabour standardsMexiconanoparticlesnanotechnologyneoliberalismoccupational healthvoluntary standardsworkplace safety
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 28 , Issue 4: Financialisation, construction work and inequality , December 2017 , pp. 538 - 554
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017

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