Next Monday, 28 April 2025, will mark International Workers’ Memorial Day. This day serves as a solemn reminder of the devastating impact that unsafe work has on individuals, families and communities. It is also an opportunity for organisations to reflect on the importance of implementing work health and safety practices and procedures into their everyday operations.

Impacts of digitalisation and automation in the workplace

This year, the theme for Workers’ Memorial Day revolves around the impacts of digitalisation and automation in the workplace. In Australia and around the globe, technical advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation and digitisation are redefining how we work. While these advancements can be beneficial for efficiency and safety, it is vital for workplaces to consider any new or additional work health and safety risks, and minimise worker exposure.

Emerging work health and safety challenges

This year’s theme aligns with the Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2023–2033, which was introduced in February 2023. The strategy acts as a platform for the delivery of work health and safety improvements over the next decade, including for emerging issues like the rise of AI, automation and related technologies.

The strategy emphasises that when workplaces integrate new technologies, they need to be designed and have appropriate oversight to prevent worker exposure to new or additional health and safety risks. For example, while an automation system could be implemented to replace a hazardous manual task, the oversight of the system could present new psychosocial challenges due to its complexity. It is therefore important for workplaces to consider and manage these new risks.

Take part in International Workers’ Memorial Day

Work health and safety is about saving lives and preventing injury. International Workers’ Memorial Day offers an opportunity for all workplaces to reflect on their current efforts and take active steps to enhance safety in their workplace.

On 28 April, your organisation can reaffirm its commitment to preventing workplace harm and also take the opportunity to arrange some activities to promote work health and safety, such as:

• sharing internal messages about work health and safety;
• discussing work health and safety in team meetings;
• organising an afternoon/morning tea or toolbox talk to discuss work health and safety; and
• arranging for a senior manager or guest speaker to speak at your workplace on safety issues.