3D printing and additive manufacturing - the implications for OSH

What is 3D printing?

3D printing is the buzzword in innovation and the creative industry. But what it is, exactly, remains unclear to the general public. Additive manufacturing, desktop producing, rapid prototyping, digital fabrication — there are different names for this new technology[1]. As a result of the fully computerised process of designing and manufacturing products, 3D printing is part of the bigger development of digital fabrication[2] . However, using ‘3D printing’ as an umbrella term for a wide range of new digital production — such as CNC (computer numerical control) milling machines, laser cutters, computerised steel plotters and so on — is misleading.…