- Project number: F 2526
- Institution: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)
- Status: Completed Project
Description:
Digitalisation changes the working environment and the tasks of employees. Advanced robotics as well as smart information and communication technologies (ICT) are part of these changes. Modern robotic systems can already enable close collaboration between humans and machines, supporting physical tasks. (Smart) ICT is frequently used to automate or support cognitive tasks. Both robotic systems and smart ICT often use complex algorithms or elements of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The question arises as to what extend working with these AI-based systems may impact the safety and health of employees. Therefore, it is important to know what legal requirements, strategies, and recommendations exist or are currently being planned and developed at the European and national levels to ensure occupational safety and health. The present project aimed to identify the current state of European regulations, research, and practices and to provide a detailed overview of them.
The project was carried out in three phases. In the first phase, the current state of research was summarised through structured literature reviews, a survey of the national contact points (Focal Points) of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), as well as expert interviews. The second phase focused on field research regarding the implementation and impact of AI-based systems, such as advanced robotic systems and smart ICT, in the workplace. The final phase dealt with the organisation, execution, and evaluation of an expert seminar.
The project's results will contribute to the work of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in the future. This will be done, among other things, as a core theme in the new Healthy Workplaces Campaigns 2023-2025 "Safe and healthy work in the digital age". Within the project opportunities and risks for the use of advanced robotics and AI- based systems as well as needs for action, and recommendations for OSH stakeholders were generated and evaluated from a European perspective. These findings have been published in four reports, four summary reports, eight policy briefs, eleven case studies, and five case descriptions, all of which are available for free on the websites of EU-OSHA and BAuA. In the framework of the project, BAuA, the University of Leicester, the University of Essex, and Milieu Consulting SPRL worked together. BAuA took on the leading research activities in all project phases and coordinated the joint project. The project was funded by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).