AI Regulations & OSH The Challenge of Balance - Paper

Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2023-2025
Safe and healthy work in the digital age
Good Practice Exchange Event
Brussels, 20-21 May 2025
AI Regulations & OSH
The Challenge of Balance
Roberto Sammarchi, Attorney at Law
AIAS (IT) representative in ENSHPO

Abstract
This paper examines the delicate balance between leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and navigating the complex regulatory landscape, particularly the European Union's AI Act. It explores AI's transformative potential in preventing workplace accidents and promoting worker well-being through predictive analytics, real-time monitoring, and automated safety systems. The document highlights the need to address ethical considerations, data privacy concerns, and the potential for algorithmic bias. It analyzes the specifics of the EU AI Act, its risk-based approach, the definition of "AI system," and the implications of the "high-risk" classification for OSH applications. It explores pathways for OSH AI systems to potentially avoid high-risk classification and advocates for a nuanced regulatory approach that fosters innovation while safeguarding fundamental rights.