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By Phil Molé, MPH
EHS professionals can’t afford to ignore artificial intelligence (AI). Ask any EHS leader why they do what they do, and the answer is simple: it’s about getting people home safely at the end of every day. That’s not just a job description—it’s a calling.
DOWNLOAD OUR NEW WHITE PAPER: “Why EHS Professionals Can’t Afford to Ignore AI”
And yet, despite decades of effort, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that rates of severe injuries and fatalities (SIFs) remain stubbornly high. While total recordable incident rates have shown some declines over the past two decades, the most serious incidents—those involving days away from work, restricted duty, or fatalities—have not followed the same downward trend. For many organizations, traditional approaches to EHS management have hit a plateau. EHS professionals like you are facing mounting pressure to move from proactive to reactive safety management approaches.
Of course, no one needs to tell you that EHS management needs to be proactive, and no one needs to convince you of the urgency. You know it, because you live with these challenges, and the anxiety they cause, every single day, even on days you’re not working.
The problem is, it’s easier said than done. It’s hard to get out ahead of injuries when you don’t have enough support to analyze large sets of incident data to identify hidden risks or are struggling to consistently conduct root cause analysis or job safety analyses (JSAs). You may also not have the visibility you need of chemical ingredients in your inventory and may lack accurate ways to assess musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risks. If you deal with a lot of contractors and vendors, the admin time spent in processing important documents such as OSHA logs and certificates of insurance also bogs you down and keeps you from being able to focus on proactive measures and best practices.
That’s why the time for AI in EHS isn’t “someday.” It’s now.
Why AI Matters for Safety
Manual approaches to collecting and analyzing safety information make it difficult to see patterns quickly enough to prevent serious incidents, but AI and machine learning (ML) change that equation.
EHS software with purpose-built AI features can sift through large datasets—like incident records for less serious incidents like near misses/close calls — and highlight the hidden significant risks most likely to lead to SIFs. Instead of only reacting after harm has occurred, AI equips professionals to be proactive, spotting the patterns and acting before injuries happen.
As Dr. Julia Penfield, VP of Research & Machine Learning at VelocityEHS, explains:
“AI and machine learning offer a generational opportunity to change the trajectory of workplace safety. We don’t see AI as a replacement for human judgment but as a powerful ally—one that helps professionals see risk patterns sooner, act faster, and prevent the preventable.”
If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at overhyped tech predictions—like drones supposedly becoming a staple of EHS—you’re not alone. But AI isn’t hype. It’s already delivering measurable results in fields adjacent to EHS, such as healthcare. Hospitals and care providers now use AI to predict patient falls with up to 97% accuracy, allowing interventions that prevent thousands of injuries each year.
The same logic applies to EHS. Whether it’s analyzing incident reports for potential SIF risks, improving the quality of job safety analyses (JSAs), indexing chemical ingredients for regulatory compliance, or enhancing 3-D motion-capture ergonomics assessments with AI-driven root causes and controls insights, AI is already changing the way safety professionals work.
Introducing VelocityAI
That’s why our team at VelocityEHS have developed VelocityAI—our purpose-built artificial intelligence trained on real EHS expertise and safety data. Unlike generic models, VelocityAI is engineered specifically to help EHS professionals like you make faster, better safety decisions.
You don’t have to be a data scientist to unlock these insights. From identifying potential serious injury and fatality (PSIF) risks to streamlining contractor management and improving JSAs, VelocityAI and its interactive assistant Vélo help you act sooner and prevent more incidents.
Want the Full Story on AI and EHS?
We’ve got you covered. We just published a comprehensive white paper, “Why EHS Professionals Can’t Afford to Ignore AI” to give you more context about the reasons EHS professionals like you should seize the opportunity presented by AI-enabled software to build and sustain momentum toward a safer, healthier workplace.
Download our white paper today so you can start learning more about:
- The persistence of severe injury and fatality numbers despite decades of safety progress, with a deep dive inside the numbers
- How AI and ML are already providing actionable, life-saving insights in fields adjacent to EHS, such as healthcare
- Practical use cases for AI in EHS today
- What to look for when selecting an EHS software partner with AI capabilities
No matter where you are in your AI journey—skeptical, curious, or already experimenting—this white paper provides the clarity and context you need to make informed decisions.
Let VelocityEHS Help!
If you’re ready to jump to the part about how VelocityAI and Vélo can help, we’re standing by to talk!
We’d love to tell you more about how our VelocityEHS Accelerate ® Platform powered by VelocityAI can help you to end the cycle of struggling to keep up and start the cycle of staying a few steps ahead of hazards and risks.
We’re looking forward to talking about our PSIF Insights, our machine-language powered chemical ingredient indexing, our AI enablement supporting better root cause analysis, better incident descriptions and JSA job task descriptions, better controls selection in ergonomics assessments and JSAs, and auto-processing of contractor documents, just to name a few.
In fact, we’d love even better to show you how we can help. Get in touch today to set up a meeting so you can see our software in action for yourself.