National Occupational Standards for Nanotechnology Application Operators in Turkey

National occupational standard which sets forth the necessary duty and authorities for successful practice of an occupation, regarding nanotechnology application operators (“Nanotechnology Application Operator”) has been brought into force with the Communique on National Occupational Standards numbered 2020/4 (“Communique No. 2020/4”) prepared by the Vocational Qualifications Authority. Accordingly, description of the occupation Nanotechnology Application Operator; its place under the international classification; the relevant regulations on health, security and environment; framework including the work environment and conditions; tasks, processes, and success criteria; the tools and equipment used; knowledge and skills; and behavior and manners have been determined with respect to Nanotechnology Application Operator. National occupational standard regarding boring machine operators has also been set forth with the Communique No. 2020/4.  

The Communique No. 2020/4 has been published in the Official Gazette dated May 16, 2020, pursuant to the article 252 of the Presidential Decree Numbered 4 dated July 15, 2018 (“Presidential Decree No.4”) regarding preparation of national occupational standards and national qualifications. Pursuant to the Presidential Decree No.4, secondary and higher education programs regarding vocational and technical education shall be brought into conformity with the relevant national occupational standard by the Ministry of National Education and universities in one year. 

Pursuant to the national occupational standard, Nanotechnology Application Operator is defined as a member of profession who, conducts work organization in accordance with the terms of reference and within the limits of their authority, conducts nanotechnology applications by organizing the working area, contributes to the engineering applications regarding product and/or process development, and attends vocational development works within the framework of occupational health and safety, environmental protection, quality requirements. In addition, it has been stated that Nanotechnology Application Operator operates in technical processes regarding production, design, processing, testing, and quality control, planning and application, and identification of nanoscale materials with regards to nanomaterials, nanocoating, nanocomposite, and other nanoscale processes. 

Nanotechnology Application Operator’s level has been identified as Level-5 as per the Turkish Qualifications Framework which consists of eight levels and its place under the International Standard Classification of Occupations (“ISCO”) is determined as “physical and engineering science technicians not classified elsewhere” (ISCO 08:3119). The Turkish Qualifications Framework, designed in harmony with the European Qualifications Framework, points out the national qualifications framework and displays all qualifications gained through vocational, general and academic programs including primary, secondary and higher education or other learning environments. 

Author: Simge Kılıç