Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Atieh Razavi Yekta, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of British Columbia
Around 60 per cent of Canadian employees can expect their job to be transformed through artificial intelligence (AI). For many, AI will complement, rather than replace, their work. For some, it could prevent illness, injury or death.
This might look like a nurse wearing a T-shirt equipped with sensors to track her lower back posture during a hospital shift. It might be an algorithm monitoring noise levels in a steel factory, to prevent worker hearing loss. Or it could be a robotic glove that helps workers avoid repetitive strain injury on an assembly line.
High-risk sectors such as construction, oil and gas, mining and heavy manufacturing may have the most to gain. Workers experience large numbers of serious injuries in these sectors, despite decades of safety regulations. Falls, equipment accidents, repetitive strain and exposure to environmental and psycho-social hazards are risks of the job.
Globally, there at least 60,000 fatal accidents on construction sites each year. In British Columbia alone, the construction industry reported more than 15,200 serious injury claims between 2015 and 2024.
AI systems — such as machine learning and large language models — can go far beyond traditional occupational health and safety practices such as inspections, training and audits. They can adapt to changing conditions, continuously monitor risks and provide real-time decision support, helping anticipate and prevent accidents before they occur.
These technologies also bring risks — to psychological health, privacy and worker rights. Canada and other nations need to develop robust governance frameworks, to ensure worker safety and well-being.
Smart helmets, boots, wrist sensors
Among the most visible applications of AI in occupational health and safety are commercial wearables and smart personal protective equipment. These include smart helmets, boots, belts, biometric garments and wrist sensors. They collect data on posture, movement, heart rate, temperature, vibration, noise and location. Connected platforms analyze these patterns in real time.
On construction sites, wearables can detect fatigue and risk of falls. For example, companies manufacture fall-protection equipment such as smart harnesses with sensing carabiners. These can be integrated with digital monitoring platforms to track worker positioning, anchorage use and fall events. They generate immediate alerts to support on-site safety decisions.
Wearables can also monitor repetitive strain and alert workers to heat stress or toxic exposure. They can warn when workers enter hazardous zones. Continuous monitoring can allow for earlier ergonomic intervention, and may even help prevent musculoskeletal disorders. For aging workers, early detection and targeted adjustments can extend careers and reduce disability risk.
At the same time, research on the combined effects of aging and workplace technologies shows that AI, robotics and automation can increase job insecurity and the risk of job loss for older workers, particularly when retraining and upskilling opportunities are limited.
Drones and robots inspect demolition sites
Beyond wearables, AI-driven drones and robotic systems are enhancing inspection and maintenance in confined or unstable environments. They can enter tunnels, bridges, demolition sites, highway corridors, mines and nuclear sites, reducing human exposure to danger.
For example, research shows that sensory-enhanced tele-operation of compact demolition robots can improve both safety and accessibility in high-risk interior sites. Operators rely on multiple sources of feedback (vision, sound and vibration) to detect hazards such as falling debris, unstable floors and blind spots.
AI-enabled drones and robotic systems are also used in mining and nuclear plants. In mining, robots can work in tight or unstable spaces while keeping operators safely outside. In the nuclear industry, they protect workers from radiation while dismantling structures and handling waste, reducing human exposure to extreme risks.
Predictive AI can also model long-term occupational health risks. In industrial settings, neural networks have been created to predict hearing loss among workers — for example in a steel factory. In this way, AI can identify complex hazards before they cause irreversible harm.
These tools can reduce exposure to hazards and help address labour shortages in high-risk industries. They also appeal to younger, tech-savvy workers.
Emerging risks and ethics
AI systems are not risk-free. Drones, robots and sensors sometimes malfunction in dusty, high-vibration or complex environments, creating new hazards on worksites.
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety notes that AI used for worker monitoring can affect psychological health by increasing pressure, performance monitoring or a sense of constant surveillance.
Wearables and other AI-enabled technologies also raise important questions about data and privacy, bias, reliability, data protection and regulatory oversight. For example, who owns the information generated? How is it stored? Could insights derived from this data be used for discipline rather than occupational health and safety purposes?
Research also shows that workers are far more likely to accept these technologies when they understand their purpose, trust the system and are confident that data is used solely to support safety and well-being.
A critical gap in protections
Under its G7 presidency in 2025, Canada helped lead the development of a global compendium of best practices for human-centred AI in the workplace. This reinforced Canada’s role as a driving force in shaping ethical, safe, workforce-ready AI policies worldwide.
And yet in many areas, when it comes to regulating AI, Canada lags behind. Canada is, for example, the only G7 country with no digital safety regulator and no online safety legislation of any kind. As AI quietly transforms workplaces, Canada risks leaving workers’ privacy, autonomy and dignity unprotected, with the proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) having never been enacted.
Without robust governance, even AI’s potential to enhance worker health and safety remains uncertain, exposing a critical gap in protections at a time of rapid technological change.
Safeguarding privacy, autonomy and dignity
In 2025, 12.2 per cent of Canadian businesses reported using AI to produce goods or deliver services, double that reported the year before. Adoption of AI in Canada is strongest in information, cultural and professional services, while agriculture, accommodation and food services lag.
As workplaces adopt AI, policymakers in Canada and globally must now focus on rules and practices that protect workers and uphold their rights. The path forward is neither to reject AI nor to adopt it uncritically. These technologies must be reliable, interoperable and designed ethically.
We need risk and impact assessments, worker consultation and governance frameworks that safeguard occupational health, privacy, autonomy and dignity.
Applied thoughtfully, with adequate regulatory frameworks in place, AI and commercial wearable technologies can prevent injuries, anticipate illness and place workers’ safety and well-being at the centre of workplace practices.
Christopher McLeod receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, WorkSafeBC, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, and the British Columbia Construction Safety Alliance.
Atieh Razavi Yekta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Will AI drones, robots and wearable sensors revolutionize workplace safety? – https://theconversation.com/will-ai-drones-robots-and-wearable-sensors-revolutionize-workplace-safety-275412
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