AI Has Entered the Workplace — But Has It Entered Your Risk Assessment?
A three-part OHS perspective on Artificial Intelligence, changing risks and the future of risk assessment
PART I:
AI Has Entered the Workplace — But Has It Entered Your Risk Assessment?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept reserved for technology companies and software developers. AI has already entered our workplaces, changing how work is performed, decisions are made, workloads are managed and employees are monitored.
From predictive maintenance and automated processes to performance monitoring, recruitment and workload allocation, AI is increasingly influencing the workplace.
Yet, in many organisations, the OHS professional may not have been part of that conversation.
So, the question is no longer: Will AI affect the workplace?
It already does!
The more important question is: Have the health and safety risks associated with AI been identified, assessed and incorporated into the organisation’s risk-management process?
AI Is A Workplace Change
When an organisation introduces a new machine, chemical, process or piece of equipment, we understand that the change needs to be assessed.
We ask:
- What has changed?
- What hazards have been introduced?
- Who could be exposed?
- What could go wrong?
- What controls are required?
- Has employee competence changed?
- Do existing procedures remain adequate?
But what happens when the change isn’t physical?
What happens when an organisation introduces AI that changes how people work, how work is allocated, how performance is measured or how decisions are made?
- The workplace may look exactly the same
- The machinery may not have changed
- The building may not have changed
- The employee may still be sitting at the same desk or operating the same equipment
Yet the risk profile may have changed.
AI Can Also Make Workplaces Safer
AI is not simply a source of new risk. It can provide significant opportunities for OHS, including:
- removing workers from hazardous environments
- reducing exposure to dangerous machinery or chemicals
- supporting predictive maintenance
- identifying patterns that humans may overlook;
- improving access to safety information
- supporting safety monitoring
- enhancing training through simulations
- assisting with emergency planning and response
The important point is this: AI may not change the physical workplace, but it can change the way work is performed — and that can change the risks.
And that leads us to the next question: What happens when the hazard isn’t a machine anymore?
And that is where Part II, in next month’s blog, will take the conversation further — exploring the less visible risks AI can introduce and why they deserve our attention within the OHS risk-management process.
