As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly prevalent in our daily lives, you might be wondering why you should rely on AI to support risk and safety management. In fact, you might even be wondering whether it’s safe to do so?
With its ability to collect, organize, and analyze vast amounts of data, however, AI solutions can provide an essential, time-saving tool in improving workplace safety. From processing information to monitoring processes, from chatbots to predictive maintenance, the role of AI in occupational health and safety is expanding rapidly.
For those interested in a sustainable approach to continuous safety improvement, AI might just be the key to increased efficiency. That’s why, in this article, we explore how AI can support your EHS processes.
how is AI used in occupational safety?
AI can be applied in various ways in the field of occupational safety wherever computers perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. Below are just some of the ways AI can assist EHS professionals, as we will explore further in this blog:
- Chatbots in occupational safety
- Summarizing and simplifying legal texts
- Audit support
- AI in risk management
- Identification and reduction of accident risks
- Optimized evaluation and prevention
- Automation of repetitive tasks
- Predictive maintenance
- Data collection
- Data analysis
- Machine learning and prediction
- Prevention
- Video monitoring
- Generating training and instructions
Disclaimer
In case you were wondering, this text was not written by artificial intelligence. Instead, AI was used for targeted search and evaluation of relevant information. Especially in occupational safety, AI solutions should not be at the wheel, but they are welcome in the passenger seat. As co-pilots, they can provide valuable support to those responsible for occupational safety.
chatbots in occupational safety
Chatbots have undergone significant development in recent times. Chat GPT, for example, offers remarkable language abilities, which can assist in answering specific questions, autonomously creating texts, summarizing expert contributions, and even providing suggestions and ideas for targeted actions.
Bear in mind, however, that the information used to develop Chat GPT only goes up to 2021, so it may not be aware of the latest developments in occupational safety. Therefore you should always check the responses given by Chat GPT.
Nevertheless, the possibilities that today’s chatbots open up in occupational safety are revolutionary. Artificial intelligence in occupational safety can simplify various tasks and significantly improve process efficiency as the following two examples illustrate:
- Summarizing and simplifying legal texts
Many occupational safety regulations, directives, and legal texts are not only lengthy, but also difficult to understand. Artificial intelligence chatbots can help solve this problem.
Open the chatbot and type 'Please summarize the following regulation in plain language,' then copy the text of the regulation into the input field. ChatGPT-4 can process up to 50 pages in this way with results are available in seconds.
Although you must have read the regulation and be familiar with its content in order to fact check, you can use the provided content as a basis for employee briefings or presentations.
- Audit support
Preparing for audits is one of the key tasks of occupational safety professionals and chatbots can undoubtedly make this work more efficient. For example, they can help find relevant regulations and laws, prepare appropriate training on occupational safety topics or evaluate the results of previous audits.
Enter the following text in Chat-GPT: “Create a checklist of all necessary steps for an internal fire protection audit.” The AI will immediately provide the top ten items to consider.
With AI-generated checklists like these, you can check whether all the necessary steps have been considered and all required documents have been prepared. In short, the chatbot helps you comply with occupational safety regulations and avoid pitfalls.
Other uses for chatbots in occupational safety:
- Researching best practices for specific safety topics
- Providing information on new or changed regulations
- Creating safety plans
- Modifying procedural instructions
- Automating the response to safety-related questions via email or chat
- Analyzing data from the incident management database
- Automatically notifying of critical safety conditions
- Developing occupational safety training materials
- Researching ideas for practical exercises on specific safety topics
- Analyzing images and converting images to text
AI in risk management
The applications of artificial intelligence in risk management are many and varied. AI applications can monitor critical infrastructure, perform automated facility inspections or be integrated into the event database, with the latter providing measurable risk management benefits to professionals.
- Identification and reduction of accident risks
When integrated with the incident database, AI helps you analyze all recorded accidents, near misses, and unsafe situations. With the help of artificial intelligence, you can quickly and comprehensively identify potential hazards and effectively reduce accident risks.
- Optimized evaluation and prevention
AI in risk management shows no signs of fatigue. It can evaluate massive amounts of data in a short amount of time, flawlessly. AI applications identify patterns, correlations, and trends, and present the data in a structured and clear manner for human colleagues. And that's not all: based on the analysis, artificial intelligence can make predictions and suggest targeted actions and preventive measures derived from the data.
- Automation of repetitive tasks
In addition to its speed of data evaluation, AI-based systems can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up human resources. This allows them to save time and focus on more important tasks. Some of the repetitive tasks that AI can handle in risk management include:
- Continuous analysis
- Regular data monitoring
- Cyclical reporting
- Answering questions about how to use the event database
AI tip
AI works with the data you provide. First, make sure that your incident management, including reporting of accidents and near misses, and your set of key performance indicators are solid.
Two critical prerequisites for encouraging employees to report incidents are:
- A strong failure and feedback culture
- Simple digital solutions that support quick and user-friendly reporting
As an example, technical services provider for the power plant industry, Veltec, increased its near miss reporting by 70 percent by implementing effective EHS software from AMCS.
predictive maintenance
Artificial intelligence opens up a wealth of new possibilities for predictive maintenance whereby proactive maintenance or repairs ensure that equipment does not fail unexpectedly. In power plants or where machines handle toxic substances, high electrical voltages, or in potentially explosive atmospheres, this eliminates the need for periodic maintenance, not only saving costs but also reducing the frequency with which employees are exposed to the risks of hazardous work. Here’s how AI underpins predictive maintenance:
- Data collection
AI sensors on machines collect various measurements that reflect the condition of the machine. This can include temperature, pressure, vibration, noise levels, or flow rates. Additionally, the AI is fed with historical data resulting from malfunctions or damage.
- Data analysis
Artificial intelligence analyzes available data in real time, identifying correlations and relevant patterns essential for predictive maintenance.
- Machine learning and prediction
Based on the analyzed data, the AI application "learns" to make predictions and issue warnings about impending disruptions and failures.
- Prevention
Before something happens, humans can proactively intervene. Artificial intelligence in predictive maintenance not only minimizes machine downtime, but also helps improve safety by detecting well in advance any damage that could lead to dangerous malfunctions or other risks.
video monitoring
Today, camera systems can be cost-effectively integrated into almost any process to improve occupational safety. Artificial intelligence is an ideal extension for video surveillance where it can be used to keep an eye on reactors, pumps, gas pipelines, or high-voltage motors.
These examples only scratch the surface, however, as the industry increasingly moves towards autonomous robotics and transport systems. Here AI is recommended to identify and track these systems in real time to ensure equipment follows planned routes and to identify any unusual movements or operations. If materials are not being transported or stored safely, artificial intelligence evaluates the situation and alerts in case of deviations long before an accident can occur.
generating training and instructions
Finally, artificial intelligence can help prepare training and instructions. Here's how it works: you feed selected data into AI, such as your company’s best practices, standardized procedures, or guidelines, risk assessments, and industry-specific legal requirements. Based on this content, AI can create relevant training sessions or instructions.
Once the training has taken place, AI can even analyze participant performance, provide feedback, and make targeted adjustments to the training based on the results.
the human touch
As the above examples demonstrate, artificial intelligence is a powerful tool in occupational safety, with significant potential in areas such as data and text analysis, risk management, predictive maintenance, video monitoring, and training. However, although AI can identify patterns and correlations, it lacks a true understanding of safety, which means human expertise and experience remain essential.
In the future, the vast amount of content generated by chatbots will feed back into the internet and as a result, AI will increasingly rely on data it has generated itself. Innovative ideas, original knowledge, and creative approaches will continue to originate from humans.
Thus, much like modern occupational safety software, AI greatly improves efficiency, but it cannot replace the human element. Its real value lies in saving time and effort. In this way, AI enables occupational safety professionals to focus their time on safety leadership rather than administrative or repetitive tasks – ultimately ensuring that occupational safety remains at the heart of sustainable and productive business practice no matter what technological developments emerge.
We invite you to learn more about AMCS EHS Management – contact us now. You can also see for yourself how it streamlines your EHS tasks. Request a free demo now.