The document discusses potential new occupational safety and health (OSH) risks related to digitalization by the year 2025. It presents several scenarios showing how digitalization could impact work and society in both positive and negative ways. Positively, digitalization may create new types of jobs and opportunities through technologies like online education and a digital single market. However, it also presents new OSH risks such as increased worker stress and exploitation from constant monitoring, unrealistic productivity targets, and a lack of job security. The scenarios also illustrate potential issues like skills shortages, rural areas being left behind, fragmentation of work, and conflicts between humans and machines.

1. FORESIGHT ON NEW AND EMERGING OSH RISKS RELATED TO
DIGITALISATION BY 2025

2. (Sigh) … It’s
now nighttime
and this task
is running late
… and I have
missed out on
5 project
tenders, 17
networker
links and 3
global ranking
competitions!
DAY IN THE LIFE
Customer rankings of
your nearest
competitors.
Global locations of
your potential
platform
opportunities.
Your current task is 10
minutes late.
Your performance
ranking has reduced
by 10%.

3. Gesture-control of these
‘hyper-fab’ machines is
easier than ordering a
drink in a bar…
But have you
looked at these
safety and
health regs?
There’s 35
pages of small
print…
Who cares if we
look at that stuff?
My clients are only
interested in
getting delivery on
time.
WHO’S IN CONTROL?
Any machine — €10 per hour
Just pay and start manufacturing!!

4. I just run the
platform — OSH
is not my problem.
I just finance the
workspace —
OSH* is not my
problem.
I just fix the
machines — OSH
is not my problem.
I just buy the
products — OSH is
not my problem.
There are no employers or
managers round here —
OSH is not our problem.
Hmm … do we have a
problem??
NOT MY PROBLEM
I just design the
templates — OSH
is not my problem.
*OSH = occupational safety and health
THE
PLATFORM

5. YOUR STRESS RATING IS…
I just can’t stand the
stress of being treated
like a machine by the
cloud manager!
Your output has been
8% below target in
the last hour.
You have made 2
medium-scale errors.
Your stress rating is
borderline orange.
Take these pills and
you will feel better.
Make sure you have a
healthy diet.
Try some meditation
in between tasks.

6. WHERE IS EVERYONE?
Remember when we
had 60 lawyers
working here in this
firm? Now it’s just
me and these ‘Law-
Bots’!
LAWYERS
I think this human
has some good
ideas, but he
lacks analytical
skills.
How about we
move him into
Marketing, and
then we can run
this firm
properly?
‘LAW-BOTS’

7. REALITY SHIFT
This VR*
maintenance kit
is great — you
can get inside
anything and fix
it right away!
One minute you’re in
a power station, next
minute, in an oil rig…
Be careful with
that spanner, it’s a
real one!
Yes, it’s hard to tell the
difference between one
reality and the next.
*VR = virtual reality

8. MIND THE GAP
OUCH!!!
I thought
accidents were
impossible —
don’t you cobots
have all the
latest spatial
sensors?
Didn’t anyone tell you?
Some of us cobots are
still running on old
software.
Oh … sorry…

9. ‘LIGHTS-OUT’ MANUFACTURING
I really don’t
like being the
only human in
these places.
What if there’s a safety
and health problem? And if the machines
go wild — it’s either
me or them…

10. LOST IN LOGISTICS
Do you remember when we
were real postmen? Knocking
on people’s doors, with a
letter and a smile…
Did you
know —
the word
‘drone’
also means
boring …
very, very
boring…
Yeah, how can I get any exercise
on this drone-monitoring job?
It’s driving me crazy…

11. STRENGTH OF STEEL
I could work till I’m 75
inside my exo-
skeleton… But when I
take it off, I can hardly
walk on my own.
5000 KG
Sometimes
I wonder
what it
might be
thinking.

12. LONG DISTANCE
Autonomous
lorry driving is
great. Humans
are only there
for the
corporate image
… so meanwhile
I can study for
my online
degree.
Human monitor alert – the
driver’s blood sugar is
approaching critical.
Hmm, we
could stop
while she
recovers …
but then we’d
miss our time
budget.
OK, give her
another shot
and we’ll
keep going.

13. WATCHING OVER YOU
Hi — this is your ‘full-human’
OSH* advisor speaking.
Our Worker Alert
system has
detected you
have eye fatigue,
chronic headache,
systemic anxiety,
lower back pain,
and acute
overdose of
coffee.
We can offer you
a free Level 3
OSH training
module. If you
complete it you
get a 20%
discount off your
next worker
insurance payment!
*OSH = occupational safety and health
Thanks, but this OSH training looks too
stressful … I’m already worried about
deliverables, P2P rankings, open
benchmarks, key performance indicators
and network analytics.

14. How did you
manage before
all this smart
technology?
Hi, this is Charlie, your workplace skills avatar.
Please run the training package installer for the virtual drive
malware security upgrade.
Then reset your default identity with the 16-digit access code.
Hmm ... Not sure
whether it’s harder
communicating with
the robots or the
young apprentices…
A QUESTION OF SKILLS

15. SCENARIO 1: EVOLUTION

16. Sorry, not much
good news
today … growth,
jobs,
investment —
all flatlining.
Why don’t
the
unemployed
retrain in AI
or robotics
or bionics or
something?
FLATLINING

17. Another expert
gone! With all the
trade tariffs and
brain drains, how
can Europe
compete?
Sorry …
head-hunted
by the Sci-
Tech Global
Consortium
to cover
South-East
Asia. I’m off
to Singapore
next week!
Hey — where are you
going? Our new contract
starts tomorrow!
BRAIN DRAIN

18. Hmmm … I
haven’t used
this material
before/
This manual
isn’t very
helpful.
We should
support our
local start-up
… but
ordering
online would
have been
easier.
YOUR LOCAL SHOP
PRINTER JAM
3D PRINTING
While-u-wait

19. The countryside is
beautiful around
here, but we just
can’t get a great
signal.
Yeah — we can see all the
aircraft and drones passing
by, while we’re stuck here …
just can’t compete with
platform workers in cities.
RURAL BYPASS

20. SCENARIO 2: TRANSFORMATION

21. Amazing how many
jobs are replaced
by AI these days.
Luckily there’s a
whole new range of
jobs with the digital
single market.
Before, I was a
lawyer. What I do now
is harder to explain …
I’m an online strategic
evaluation change
management
facilitator.
Yes, you’re
right. What
kind of job do
you have?
DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET

22. Online education is
very stressful … I
can’t keep up with
all the targets…
If you want to get
ahead you have to
conform…. That’s
what made us what
we are today.
If you want to get
ahead you have to
conform. That’s how
we got to where we
are today.
TARGET PRACTICE

23. I wonder if expert
systems would help us
keep up with the
accelerating need for
new regulations?
We need a whole
new programme of
regulation on
hyper-automation
and the human-
robotic interface!
EXPERT ADVISORY SUB-COMMITTEE ON
REGULATORY REFORM TO THE COMMISSION
ON ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE
REFORM FOR REFORMERS
How can we
ensure that
risk
assessments
are done
when work
can be done
anywhere
24/7?
That’s the
big one…

24. You could just fall over a
chair and break a leg.
RED ALERT!!
Toxic
compounds in
unauthorised
location.
Removal now
in progress.
This hyper-VR*
chemical engineering is
much more fun … and
what could possibly go
wrong?
CHEMISTRY FOR BEGINNERS
*VR = virtual reality

25. SCENARIO 3: EXPLOITATION

26. Yes, running a business is
so much more relaxing
without demanding workers
getting in the way!
It’s amazing
how our
hyper-
automation
business
seems to be
raining
Bitcoins!
HUMAN-FREE PROFIT

27. I used to drive a limo …
until it began to drive
itself.
These homeless
apps enable me
to access
support and
opportunities
for informal
work.
www.
Home
less.
com
WORKERS ARE EVERYWHERE

28. We need your final
report in 30 minutes.
Your productivity is 10%
below the required
standard.
Please dictate after the
tone for auto-translation
to Japanese.
If this AI is so clever,
why can’t it see that
humans are being
emotionally destroyed?
PRODUCTIVITY PROBLEMS

29. I don’t like the
way that bot is
looking at me…
**ALERT**
Are you thinking
what I’m
thinking?
I think Human
S23097-XC is
unreliable.
We must use
’emotional
intelligence’.
Just wait till it has
to recharge, then
you can get your
revenge…
POWER GAMES

30. SCENARIO 4: FRAGMENTATION

31. Look, here’s a good
job … 2 hours of
cyber-trolling, pays
in Bitcoin only.
How about this
one … 3.5 hours of
personal service to
a hyper-rich
individual?
JOBS-R-
US.com
What would
you like to
do today??
www.I’m-
available.
com
OUT OF SIGHT

32. **RED ALERT**
Subversive
humans
approaching
the gates.
Prepare for
level 3
response.
We demand
human
rights and
social
justice!
LOCKED OUT

33. Look at that!
I thought these
self-drives were
supposed to be
safer than
humans?
I think human
brains are not so
easy to hack...
If you want
to have some
fun, the
smart lamp-
posts are
easy targets!
SMART CITY FUN

34. These
instructions
come in 28
languages but
they don’t tell
you what to do!
I can do flat-
pack
furniture …
but putting a
tool in a
robot is risky
Best to keep
out of its way
until the help
desk responds.
It’s not
responding…
INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED