ILPC 2026

Work has been changing over the time, incorporating different labor process and new techniques. In view of these changes, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has launched the “The future of work centenary initiative”, which spread the dialogue about work and society, decent work for all, work organization and labor production and governance. In this context, there is concern about the use of nanotechnology in the work environment. Understood as a set of techniques for the matter manipulation in nanometric scale, its use, on the one hand, optimizes the productive processes and supplies qualitative improvements in the products. On the other hand, however, it causes uncertainty about its impacts on the human body and the environment, because manipulated elements, even if they are old known to science - such as gold, for example - because their nanoscale, they have properties significantly different from the same element on a larger scale and may cause unknown risks and damages. Faced with an exponential and continuous increase of the use of nanotechnology (in Brazil, between 2006 and 2011, nanoproducts increased 521%), this paper aims to understand if and how the Brazilian actors involved with the use of nanotechnology are concerned with issues of health and safety of workers involved in the productive dynamics. In order to do so, it is intended to map and listen to the actors involved in the use of nanotechnology in the country, divided into four main axes: (i) government, (ii) trade unions, (iii) development agencies and (iv) researchers. In relation to the entities involved in nanotechnology related to (i) the Brazilian Government, it is worth mentioning the National System of Laboratories in Nanotechnology (SisNANO), composed of laboratories directed to research, development and innovation in nanosciences and nanotechnologies; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Science and Technology; and the National Sanitary Surveillance Agency. The analysis of the performance of these organs will allow to understand how is the concern with the safety and health in the use of nanomaterials. Regarding the (ii) unions, it will be considered employers and professional unions, based on the analysis of collective bargaining agreements that deal in some of their clauses on nanotechnology, seeking to understand how these representative entities address the issue. The (iii) development agencies and (iv) researchers will be approached to verify the amount allocated to initiatives involving nanotechnology and, to what extent, research focuses on risk prevention brought about by this new technology. In order to do so, this research will favor an empirical-qualitative methodology, using (a) searches in public data bases, such as the “Collective Bargaining System – MEDIADOR” of the Ministry of Labor, which organizes conventions and collective agreements concluded in the country; (b) interviews with the actors mentioned above. The collected data will be analyzed with the aid of qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti. It is hoped, therefore, to understand if there are and what are the concerns with the health and safety of the worker facing the use of nanotechnology in the labor environment.