Potential Occupational Hazards of Additive Manufacturing

Details

• Personal Author:
  Geraci, Charles L. ; Howard J ; Murashov V ; Roth GA ; Stefaniak, Aleksandr B.
• Description:
  Additive manufacturing (AM), often called 3-D printing, is becoming a prominent part of modern industry due to its usefulness in accelerating product development and prototyping, as well as producing complex and precision parts. AM is a collection of processes for creating products by selectively joining small amounts of material based on a computer-aided design file. This approach yields several advantages to industry: shortened production cycles, reduced tooling costs, reduced waste material, easier product customization, novel design options, and new possibilities in distribution and fulfilment. AM has already impacted automotive, aerospace, medical device, and electronics manufacturing; is expected to grow in biomedical applications; and has found its way into construction, offices, schools, and libraries. Despite dramatic growth in applications and adoption, there has been a relatively minimal amount of academic literature published on the potential implications of AM for worker safety and health. While many forms of AM share some similarities with existing technologies, changes in materials, instrumentation, applications, and work organization can create potential hazards that are either sufficiently distinct as to warrant renewed consideration, or are entirely new. The challenges may resemble those of nanotechnology, where the mixture of old and new processes, novel environments, and the pace of change made characterization of hazards and assessment of risk ongoing challenges. The challenge to academic researchers, industrial designers, and occupational safety and health personnel will be developing knowledge of AM potential hazards, exposure assessment methods, and controls; and to propagate that knowledge throughout the industry. Doing so will require foundational knowledge in the basic principles of AM processes and the context in which AM is conducted. Herein, those processes will be briefly described, various potential hazards identified, and several aspects of AM implementations discussed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Printing, Three-Dimensional Safety
• Keywords:
  3D Printing Additive Manufacturing Advanced Manufacturing Author Keywords: 3-D Printing Biomedical Engineering Computer Aided Manufacturing Future Of Work Nanotechnology Occupational Health Occupational Safety Risk Assessment Three Dimensional Printing

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division ; RHD - Respiratory Health Division ; OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  321-328
• Volume:
  16
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055209
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2019 May; 16(5):321-328
• Contact Point Address:
  Gary A. Roth, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 1090 Tusculum Avenue MS, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Email:
  groth@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1b51de323de6a8578996b56b2d230105866d8e6fab302512f554de0baa6de519409d0ff227571cc602d061c494b9b819a68b7bcfa946d33757897ee64a3d38e6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217563/cdc_217563_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 906.12 KB ]