Originally published by the Australian Institute of Health & Safety
Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation present both benefits and threats to health, safety and wellbeing in the workplace, according to a recent government report.
As such, employers and workers need to be educated about the safe and ethical use of AI and other technology in the workplace, said The Future of Work report, which was tabled by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education, and Training.
The report, which focuses on the digital transformation of workplaces, said that new technologies such as AI can improve health and safety in workplaces across many industries.
This includes employees’ physical and online safety, primarily achieved by monitoring, recording and reporting workplace behaviours, including checking employees’ adherence to safe practices.
For instance, technologically enabled surveillance can bring advantages and risks to workers’ safety. CCTV and computer vision systems can collect evidence about customer aggression towards workers, but increased monitoring can have negative impacts on workers’ wellbeing, according to one submission from the UTS Human Technology Institute, which found that most retail workers valued facial recognition technology and are willing to accept their data being collected and processed as a trade-off for increased safety.
However, the report identified significant WHS implications arising out of excessive monitoring and surveillance of workplaces: “It was identified that this can amount to extreme micromanagement and can have devastating consequences.”
Similarly, there are also significant WHS implications from the perspective of key performance indicators (KPIs) with the adoption of new technologies such as AI.
“Organisations can use AI systems to set intensified and unachievable KPIs,” said the report, with another submission noting that KPIs imposed on workers who are tracked can lead to significant physical and psychosocial harms in the workplace if KPIs are unsustainable or unrealistic.
The Australian Services Union, for example, noted in its submission that this is creating workplaces characterised by suspicion and worry, especially when they involve wearable monitors, pervasive surveillance systems, and tracking software.
Some organisations are also using monitoring and surveillance technology to encourage risk-taking behaviour, according to the report, which cited a Victorian Trades Hall Council submission detailing an example from industry.
In this case, Toll Transport installed real time monitoring cameras inside cars to identify workers that may be distracted or fatigued. Despite limited studies on the effect to health, infrared beams were shone into the eyes of drivers for up to 12 consecutive hours.
This monitoring and surveillance technology was focused on ‘constantly assessing driver behaviour and productivity’ at the expense of worker and road safety, according to the submission.
This environment is directly contributing to WHS hazards, including increased rates of strain and injuries, and exhaustion and mental stress among workers, and the report said these are manifesting as repetitive stress injuries, sleep difficulties, and depression and anxiety.
In the case of delivery drivers, the Committee heard that work intensification is leading them to take unacceptable risks to meet intensified KPIs, including speeding, ignoring road signs, and driving in poor weather conditions.
These KPIs are contributing to long work hours, fewer breaks and driving when fatigued, and one submission noted that, in extreme cases, this is leading to workplace deaths.
The report also noted that excessive monitoring and surveillance technologies can enable bullying, harassment, discrimination, and other inappropriate conduct in the workplace. Marginalised cohorts (such as women, multicultural communities, First Nations people, young people, and people with disabilities) who are overexposed to workplace discrimination are more likely to feel the effects of surveillance, according to the report.
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education, and Training Chair, Lisa Chesters MP, said the use of AI and automated decision-making is significantly shaping workplaces across sectors, impacting employers, staff, regulators and the community.
“While AI and automated decision-making can create opportunities for workplaces such as increased productivity and efficiency, and job creation and augmentation, these benefits need to be shared between employers and workers,” Chesters said.
The Committee’s inquiry found that the digital transformation has exposed significant challenges. This includes gaps in Australia’s regulatory frameworks and workplace protections, and a very concerning and excessive use of technology-enabled surveillance and data-collection by employers, according to Chesters.
