A New Era for Workplace Safety

As we commemorate World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2025, it's clear that we stand at a pivotal moment in the evolution of workplace safety. The theme this year, "Revolutionising health and safety: The role of AI and digitalisation at work," recognises the transformative potential of emerging technologies to protect workers and prevent injuries in ways previously impossible.

In New Zealand, where workplace safety remains a critical concern across industries from construction to manufacturing and transportation, the integration of AI technologies represents not just an incremental improvement but a fundamental reimagining of how we approach health and safety.

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The Dual Nature of AI in the Workplace

When discussing AI in workplace contexts, it's essential to recognise two distinct applications: automation of tasks traditionally performed by workers, and what's often termed "algorithmic management"—the use of AI-based analytics to enhance or replace managerial functions.

The fear that automation necessarily leads to job losses oversimplifies a complex reality. In many cases, AI complements human labour rather than replacing it. This "augmentation" approach depends on several factors: how central the automated task is to the overall job, how thoughtfully the technology is integrated into existing workflows, and importantly, management's commitment to maintaining human oversight of critical processes.

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R/VISION: AI as a "Guardian Angel" for Workers

Against this backdrop, R/VISION has emerged as a pioneering example of how AI can augment human capabilities to create safer workplaces. Developed by RUSH Digital in collaboration with industry partners like Downer Transport and Infrastructure, R/VISION leverages computer vision AI to provide continuous monitoring of workplaces—particularly high-risk environments like road construction sites.

At a recent Auckland Transport Health & Safety event coinciding with World Day for Safety and Health at Work, representatives from RUSH and Downer showcased how this technology is serving as a "guardian angel" for road crews throughout New Zealand.

The system works by integrating portable hardware with sophisticated AI algorithms that can detect potentially dangerous situations in real-time: workers in exclusion zones, vehicles exceeding safe speed limits, missing personal protective equipment, and even workers who may have fallen and need immediate assistance.

"We understand the inherent dangers associated with working in the road corridor," explains Murray Robertson, Chief Operating Officer of Transport & Infrastructure at Downer. "R/VISION has the potential to act as a crucial safety net, providing our teams with the right information to make informed decisions on-site. It doesn't replace the importance of human judgement, but rather complements it as another valuable tool in our toolbox."

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Beyond Detection: Creating a Culture of Prevention

What truly sets technologies like R/VISION apart is their potential to shift workplace safety from a reactive to a preventative discipline. Traditional approaches often focus on investigating incidents after they occur. By contrast, AI-enabled systems provide continuous monitoring and early warning capabilities that can prevent accidents before they happen.

This preventative capability manifests in several ways:

1. Real-time alerts: When the system detects a potential hazard—such as a worker entering a designated exclusion zone or a vehicle travelling too fast near a work site—it can immediately alert site supervisors, allowing for swift intervention.
2. Data-driven insights: By collecting and analysing patterns over time, these systems can identify recurring safety issues that might not be apparent to human observers. For instance, if workers routinely enter hazardous areas at specific times or under certain conditions, this pattern becomes visible through data analysis.
3. Continuous improvement: The accumulated data serves as a foundation for ongoing safety enhancements. Teams can adjust protocols, redesign workflows, or implement additional safeguards based on empirical evidence rather than assumptions.

Lee McKenzie, Waka Kotahi Future Transport Manager, emphasises the importance of this approach: "We believe every road worker and road user should go home safely, and we're proud to be supporting this, and other projects, that uphold this vision. By partnering with innovators like RUSH in collaboration with Downer, we can accelerate potentially transformational solutions to some of our biggest transport challenges."

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Addressing the Human Side of Technological Change

While the potential benefits of AI in workplace safety are significant, successful implementation requires careful attention to the human dimensions of technological change. Workers may initially view monitoring technologies with suspicion, concerned about privacy implications or fears that the data might be used punitively.

The team behind R/VISION has addressed these concerns through several thoughtful design choices:

• Privacy protection: The system automatically blurs facial features in stored footage to protect individual identities.
• Targeted monitoring: Rather than general surveillance, the technology focuses specifically on safety-relevant behaviours and situations.
• Worker engagement: Frontline workers have been involved throughout the development process, ensuring the technology addresses real needs while respecting boundaries.
• Integration with existing processes: The system is designed to complement rather than replace established safety practices, making it an addition to—not a substitution for—human expertise.

This human-centred approach acknowledges that technology alone cannot transform workplace safety. True revolution comes from the thoughtful integration of technological capabilities with human expertise, judgment, and on-the-ground knowledge.

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The Economic Case for AI in Safety

Beyond the clear moral imperative to protect workers, there's a compelling economic case for investing in AI-enhanced safety systems. Workplace injuries and fatalities exact a tremendous toll not just on individuals and families but on organisations and the broader economy.

In New Zealand's manufacturing sector alone, sprains and strains resulted in approximately 240,400 lost workdays in a single year, with an estimated lifetime cost to the ACC scheme of $43 million. These figures represent just one category of injury in one sector—the total economic impact across all industries is substantially larger.

AI-powered safety systems can help reduce these costs through:

• Decreased incident rates: By preventing accidents before they occur, organisations can avoid the direct costs of injury claims and lost productivity.
• Reduced downtime: When safety incidents do occur, they often result in work stoppages for investigations. Fewer incidents mean less operational disruption.
• Insurance savings: Organisations with demonstrably effective safety programmes may qualify for reduced insurance premiums.
• Compliance efficiency: Automated monitoring and reporting can streamline regulatory compliance efforts.

This economic dimension is particularly important given concerns about unequal access to AI technologies. As noted in research on the subject, "unequal access to the technology stemming from infrastructure bottlenecks, skill deficiencies or simply the cost of the technology can widen existing productivity divides between countries as well as between large and small or micro enterprises."

To ensure equitable access to the safety benefits of AI, R/VISION has been designed to work with existing camera infrastructure and offers flexible implementation options to accommodate organisations of varying sizes and resources.

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Looking Ahead: The Future of AI in Workplace Safety

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As we look to the future, it's clear that AI will play an increasingly central role in workplace safety strategies. Several emerging trends point the way forward:

1. Integration across safety systems: Rather than standalone solutions, we'll see greater integration of AI-powered monitoring with other workplace safety technologies and processes.
2. Predictive capabilities: As algorithms become more sophisticated and datasets grow, AI systems will move beyond detecting current hazards to predicting potential risks before they materialise.
3. Worker empowerment: The most effective implementations will use AI not just as a monitoring tool for management but as a resource that empowers workers themselves to make safer decisions.
4. Regulatory frameworks: As AI safety technologies become more commonplace, we can expect regulatory guidance to evolve, establishing standards for their ethical and effective use.
5. Cross-industry learning: Innovations from high-risk industries like construction and manufacturing will increasingly inform safety practices in sectors that have traditionally seen less technological innovation in safety.

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Conclusion: A Collective Responsibility

The revolution in workplace safety promised by AI and digitalisation will only be realised through collective effort. Technology providers must design solutions that are not just technically sophisticated but ethically sound and worker-centred. Organisations must implement these technologies thoughtfully, with genuine commitment to safety rather than mere compliance. Workers must be engaged as partners in the process, their expertise and concerns respected and incorporated.

And policymakers must create frameworks that both encourage innovation and ensure its benefits are broadly shared across the economy.

As demonstrated by the partnership between RUSH, Downer, and Waka Kotahi in developing and implementing R/VISION, collaboration across sectors is essential to harnessing the full potential of AI for workplace safety.

On this World Day for Safety and Health at Work, we have an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the fundamental principle that everyone deserves to return home safely from their job. AI and digitalisation offer powerful new tools to uphold this principle—not by replacing human judgment and care, but by enhancing our collective capacity to protect one another in increasingly complex work environments.

The revolution in workplace safety isn't just about technology. It's about using technology to express our shared commitment to human wellbeing in ever more effective ways.

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This article was prepared following the Auckland Transport International Health & Safety Day event on April 28th, 2025, where RUSH showcased their R/VISION technology.