What Impact Will AI Have on Health and Safety Roles?
At a recent Safety, Health and Wellbeing Live Event in Manchester, industry experts gathered to explore a range of topics, one of the key questions being: What impact will AI and technology have on health and safety roles? Led by Peter Jenkins, Lead Facilitator at Simple Foundry, with input from Richard Bate, IOSH President Elect, the session examined how AI is reshaping the field.
Peter, reflecting on insights from the IOSH series on AI and tech, presented a balanced view of the opportunities, challenges, and risks AI brings to the profession.
My Key Takeaways Are as Follows –
AI: A Partner, not a replacement.
One of the key themes of the session was that AI is not here to replace health and safety roles but to enhance them. This point was underpinned by a video from Prakash Senghani, Co-Founder and CEO of Navatech, who stressed that AI won’t replace our roles but will make us more efficient. Richard Bate echoed this sentiment, emphasising that AI is a tool to support decision-making rather than take it over.
AI may redefine roles, but it won’t remove the need for skilled health and safety professionals.
Trust and Ethics: The Foundation of AI in Safety
A central concern was the importance of trust and ethics when implementing AI. Peter highlighted the insights of Angelo Cianfrocco, Sr. HSE Manager, Technologies at Fluor Corporation who spoke at a recent IOSH series on AI, and argued that while AI can flag risks and automate tasks, the human interface remains vital. Workers, supervisors, and managers must trust how AI operates, especially when it comes to decision-making.
Reflecting on ethical considerations, Peter cited Tess Buckley Programme Manager - Digital Ethics and AI Safety at TechUK, who urged caution: “Just because you could doesn’t mean you should.” Her point emphasised the importance of human oversight and ongoing evaluation, ensuring that AI tools align with safety goals.
Peter likened this approach to the industry’s familiar Plan, Do, Check, Act framework, highlighting the need for continuous feedback and monitoring.
Transforming Safety: Leadership and Strategy Are Key
The successful adoption of AI requires clear strategies and strong leadership. Drawing on examples from the IOSH series, Peter shared insights from Andresa Hernandes, Vice President of Safety at Siemens AG at Siemens, where their 8-part digital safety transformation strategy incorporates cutting-edge technologies like VR, wearables, and video surveillance.
Andresa’s success underscored three critical elements:
1) Build trust across teams and organisations
2) Create a focused strategy for technology adoption
3) Engage leaders to inspire and drive change.
The speakers also reflected on advice from Australian Safety Tech expert Cam Stevens, who advised to “start with the problem first” when considering any technology, rather than starting with the technology itself.
What Does AI Mean for Health and Safety Roles?
The impact of AI on health and safety roles is clear: it will transform how professionals work, making their roles more efficient and strategic. AI will handle routine and hazardous tasks, while humans will focus on leadership, decision-making, and fostering trust across organisations.
As Peter concluded - AI won’t replace health and safety professionals—it will enable them to be better at what they do.
James Irwin is a Director at Irwin and Colton, a specialist health and safety recruitment company. For more information contact James on 01923 432 632 or james.irwin@irwinandcolton.com