Can AI Chatbots be used to Refine Health and Safety Content?

A recent article by Workplace Safety & Prevention Services cautions against solely relying on AI chatbots like ChatGPT for health and safety advice. It highlights reasonable concerns – potential inaccuracies, outdated information, and lack of citations. 

However, while AI chatbots do have limitations, can they still provide value as refinement tools in health and safety?  

Here are three ways AI chatbots can refine safety information: 

1. Simplify complex health and safety topics 

Health and safety can contain highly technical concepts. For example, having to explain occupational exposure limits or fall clearance calculations can be challenging even for the most seasoned health and safety professionals who are often immersed in the subject. 

 AI chatbots possess unique strengths in taking complex information and converting it into easily understandable language. These tools can analyze difficult passages and suggest simplifications to improve clarity for the intended audience. 

 So after developing technical health and safety content, running it through an AI chatbot can get feedback on how to simplify complicated terms to improve the chances of understanding by the end user – the worker. 

2. Improve readability for the intended audience

Producing workplace health and safety information that is readable is critical for it to resonate. Armed with knowledge about the characteristics of the individual reading your information, AI chatbots can provide a neutral perspective on reading ease. They can assess difficulty of the vocabulary used and the logical flow of information which may be important in documents such as safe operating procedures.  

3. Standardize Tone and Terminology

Maintaining a consistent style and voice across numerous health and safety documents is challenging. When multiple health and safety specialists collaborate to prepare important documentation, variations in tone and terminology used are inevitable. 

 However, AI chatbots can rapidly scan files and highlight discrepancies in voice and terminology, identifying where differences exist and even rewriting it for you in a consistent manner. This can help make health and safety content feel cohesive rather than disjointed to readers – building trust and authority around the guidance provided. 

While AI chatbots used as a starting point require oversight by a competent individual in health and safety, they can help as refinement tools to strengthen understanding of the important information.   

See for yourself! 

We asked 3 popular AI chatbots to review a safe operating procedure for stepladder use from a real workplace. We wanted to know how the information would be interpreted by a worker and suggestions for enhancing clarity. 

See the results here and send us a message to let us know what you think.