Artificial Intelligence is influencing OSH at two levels. It is transforming the world of work - and therefore the requirements for occupational health and safety. At the same time OSH institutions can use AI to organise their work even more effectively.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in occupational safety and health (OSH) is becoming more significant and being addressed by both research projects at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) and participation in the international discourse on these issues.
Two levels can be distinguished where AI is having effects. Firstly, there is the institutional level of occupational safety and health provision. For example, prevention services and supervisory authorities are able to target better how they allocate their resources by leveraging AI technologies or enhance the effectiveness of their supervisory activities by relying on AI-supported tools to select the organisations they inspect.
Secondly, AI is also affecting the workplace level. Smart systems offer a great deal of potential for direct and indirect protective measures for employees. In addition, as a tool for the organisation of OSH in the workplace, AI can contribute to the networking of safety and health-relevant information or assist individuals and entities within the organization in recurring tasks related to occupational safety and health. At both levels, it is necessary to weigh up the opportunities and risks in each specific situation where AI is applied.
What is more, only the availability of a broad foundation of reliable data to support decision-making will allow the most to be made of AI’s potential benefits, such as the ability to improve the targeting of interventions. With our research, we are ensuring that the use of artificial intelligence within the context of occupational safety and health is following a human-centred approach.