Working on Safety Conference
What Will Safe Work Look Like in 2036?
Andrea Rowe recently attended and presented the International Working on Safety (WOS) 2026 conference which brought safety researchers, academics and practitioners to Cyprus from around the world. The theme “Shaping the future of occupational safety and health: Innovation, Resilience and Wellbeing” asked attendees to consider how we must respond to a rapidly changing world of work.
One question that was asked during the conference: Is the world changing faster than we can keep up with keeping people safe?
A key message was clear: While technology is transforming work, the future of safety must remain “human centred”.
A concept discussed throughout the conference was Industry 5.0. The future lies in combining innovation with human-centred design- ensuring technology works with people, not the other way around. From Artificial Intelligence (AI) and wearable technology to digital twins and collaborative robots, new tools offer enormous potential to reduce risk, but they also introduce new challenges (such as worker stress) that must be managed thoughtfully.
Andrea Rowe presenting at the WOS Conference
The international effort towards Vision Zero, encompasses these values with key Principles that include: designing for people and human factors, early intervention, elimination and minimisation, participation, autonomy and control, simplification and “forgiving” systems that recognise human error will occur.
Andrea Rowe presented on making machinery safety standards work in the real world. Drawing on practical experience, Andrea explored why useful standards and compliance requirements exist in almost all countries, yet still some critical safety aspects such as guarding and labelling are still missed in practice. Her presentation showcased practical approaches, including the successful Zero Access training program, which has helped to identify hidden machinery hazards, simplify complex standards and ultimately achieve significant reductions in serious machinery injuries.
One of the biggest takeaway from WOS 2026 was that the future of safety isn't about creating more information. It's about turning knowledge into action through research into effectiveness, better design, meaningful worker participation and practical safety solutions that make a real difference in the workplace.
Next month Andrea Rowe will discuss the ISSA - Vision Zero takeaways from the conference