The future of health and safety in the workplace

April 28th each year sees World Day for Health and Safety in the workplace occur.

Organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) it began in 2003, and each year adopts a different theme. In 2025, that theme is ‘Revolutionising health and safety: the role of AI and digitalisation at work’.

It will focus on the impact artificial intelligence and digitalisation will have on workplaces and as these workplaces evolve with AI, robotics and remote work understand how these technologies will bring both opportunities and challenges.

Dan Watts, Head of Group Health and Safety, shares his thoughts on how this may impact Logson Group and the wider corrugated packaging industry.

Technology is revolutionising the corrugated packaging industry in several significant ways and whilst some core processes remain reliant on human endeavours, we are seeing additional influences helping with controlling our significant risks, production efficiency, reducing waste and improving quality control.

Coupled with more efficient remote working technologies, enabling better collaboration and management across multi-site businesses, continuous improvement is being made across our operations.

Aligned with those advancements in technology and changes to our working practices, software and remote collaborations, is the need to ensure the industry’s health and safety assessments and practices evolve accordingly.

Determining best practices and strategies

Influential in determining these best practices and strategies is the Paper and Board Industry Advisory Committee (PABIAC) a tripartite strategic health and safety delivery partnership for the paper, board and recovered paper industries.

PABIAC has been influential in the health and safety performance with those industries and its most recent strategy (2023 – 2027: It’s in our hands) has the objectives of:

Objective 1: Understanding and integrating human factors into health and safety
Objective 2: Accident and Incident Investigation
Objective 3: Proactive and reactive mental health and wellbeing measures.

Logson Group remains committed to achieving those objectives and recognises the influence of technology and the impact it may have on extending these objectives further to ensure full integration especially with our Group wide ‘We Make It Safe’ vision.

The Logson vision

We Make It Safe was introduced a few years ago and continues to underpin all our health, safety and wellbeing activities and actions within the business.

Three clearly defined objectives allow our policies, strategies and actions to align with those objectives and the wider objectives outlined in PABIAC.

Perhaps the beauty of our objectives is that they allow the business to evolve whilst still keeping the same goals in mind. The greater introduction of technology, digitalisation, AI and robotics to our business operations may bring new ways of doing things on a manufacturing and customer service basis, it doesn’t change the fact that we aim to take care of our people and keep them safe and well in our workplaces.

What it does mean is a greater awareness of how technology may impact on delivering our vision and ensuring new policies and documentation is created to support this.
This is not a new approach to health and safety. Our world and workplaces continuously evolve, and health and safety should be an industry which anticipates, plans and responds to maximise its positive outcomes.

By working with our teams, adapting as required and using thoughtful change management strategies, we help our employees navigate new technologies and workflow processes seamlessly and safely.

Delivering high standards

Our health and safety teams apply the PABIAC and We Make it Safe vision in their own sites and have a number of reporting and assessment tools to support this giving a robust and diligent approach to delivering the highest standards of health and safety in all our workplace activities.

Each of our sites has designated health and safety professionals that are trained and qualified in following all necessary requirements and the We Make It Safe vision. All our colleagues are provided with the necessary training and encouraged to work with each other to report areas for improvement when they see them.

Embracing change in the way we deliver our core business operations is key to the ongoing success of the corrugated packaging industry and we are experienced in doing just that.

As digitalisation and AI become evermore prevalent in our workplaces, we must simply continue to identify challenges, provide solutions and ensure everyone is educated to ensure its safe integration into our business.