Rethinking EHS Podcast
In this bonus episode, host Charlotte Buffoni is joined by Giorgia McGuigan from Peter J Ramsay and Associates in Australia to examine how AI-enabled workflow, reporting and performance management tools can introduce psychosocial risks at work.
A tool intended to save time can leave employees feeling more closely monitored, raise productivity expectations, blur how performance data is used or add to workloads. Giorgia explains why autonomy, role clarity, fatigue and trust matter when organisations introduce systems that influence decisions about people.
The discussion explores what EHS professionals can contribute before and throughout implementation: consult workers, assess how the tool changes work, question whether it addresses a real need and keep people involved in interpreting its outputs. The key test is whether an organisation can explain to a worker how the system affected a decision about them.
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Time Stamps
- 00:00:02 – Introduction: AI at work and psychosocial safety
- 00:01:21 – When productivity tools change the experience of work
- 00:01:57 – Autonomy, monitoring and decisions informed by AI
- 00:03:37 – AI scheduling and the risk of worker fatigue
- 00:04:49 – Warning signs: Role clarity and rising demands
- 00:07:08 – What responsible implementation could look like
- 00:08:01 – Using AI as a support for human judgement
- 00:10:40 – Consulting workers about changes to their work
- 00:12:00 – Bringing EHS into design and management of change
- 00:14:13 – Questioning the need for a tool and reviewing its impact
- 00:15:13 – Can you explain a decision to the affected worker?
- 00:15:56 – Closing reflections on the human impact of technology
Guest Quotes
Giorgia McGuigan:
“I think asking would we be comfortable in explaining to the worker how this system has influenced decision about them?”
