Safety and rehabilitation disrupted

Joanna Horton, Research Analyst

What is strategic foresight?

Strategic foresight is an emerging field of research and profession concerned with exploring and describing plausible future events to help people make wiser choices.

Background study and scope definition

Horizon scan to identify trends

Screen, classify, validate and prioritise trends

Geopolitical trends

Technological trends

Social trends

Economic trends

Environmental trends

Craft and communicate a narrative about the future

Collate and synthesise trends

Inform strategy, planning and decision making

Megatrends Risks / ShocksScenarios

Identify patterns of change(trends)

2

Understand core issues and questions

1

Identify salient patterns of change(megatrends, risks, scenarios)

3

Craft and communicate a narrative

4

Inform strategic decision making

5

Our Strategic Foresight Process

Why is now any different?• Impact of technology on the labour

market• Changing employment models • Demographic changes• Industrial diversification (post-mining

boom)

What will the ‘future of work’ look like?

Industry 4.0• We are entering the fourth

industrial revolution – also known as Industry 4.0

• Convergence of industries and activities that were once considered separate – e.g.construction and manufacturing.

Work 4.0Work 4.0 is the logical extension of the discussion and thinking around the emerging Industry 4.0. New employment models, job designs, labour markets and social expectations will reshape the requirements and expectations of safety and rehabilitation.

Automation

• Robots are becoming better and cheaper

• Advances in technology and job automation in Australia has already led to declines in routine jobs

• The rise of collaborative robots, or ‘co-bots’

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Estimated worldwide annual sales of robotic devices

Data source: International Federation of Robotics

The gig economyThe gig economy has grown rapidly worldwide, but its impact in Australia is unclear. There are conflicting statistics:

• Edelman Berland: 32% of the Australian workforce undertook some kind of freelance work in 2014-15

• Deloitte: 53% of Australians participated in the collaborative economy in 2014-15

But … • Grattan Institute: 0.5% of Australian adults work

on platforms more than once a month• Australian Economic Review: No significant

change in non-standard employment since 2001Although …

• ABS notes an increase in secondary employment

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IndependentContractors

Moonlighters DistributedWorkers

TemporaryWorkers

FreelanceBusiness Owners

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Types of freelancers in Australia, by percentage of freelance workforce Data source: Edelman Berland

Emerging opportunities

Augmented reality • Technology can provide workers with

information and guidance in real-time – e.g. mixed reality headsets and glasses

• According to Forrester, by 2025 14.4 million US workers will wear ‘smart glasses’

• Google Glass Enterprise Edition and DAQRI’s Smart Helmet are two examples of AR devices being used to enhance productivity and safety

DAQRI Smart Helmet

Google Glass Enterprise Edition

Emerging opportunities

Situational awareness and remote sensing• IoT sensors foster better access to

environmental information• Safety Compass: smartphone-based

augmented reality app providing real-time safety information and feedback

• Integrates with existing and emerging IoTdevices, via Bluetooth or WiFi.

Safety Compass

Situational awareness and remote sensing• Komatsu integrating IoT and other

deployed sensors into the operation of their plant and equipment.

• Komatsu has begun integrating drones to supply an automated ‘eye in the sky’

• Addressing Japan’s significant and worsening labour market shortages

Emerging opportunities

Emerging opportunitiesPhysical systems• Exoskeletons for workers in highly physical

work – e.g. aged care, luggage handling, operating heavy machinery

• ‘Active’ and ‘passive’ exoskeletons• Latest iteration of HAL ‘reads’ bioelectric

signals in the body which are created by the brain when it wants the body to move.

• Designed to address Japan’s ageing workforceHybrid Assistive Limb (HAL)

Emerging risksAutonomous agency• It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand

and predict the behaviour of autonomous systems.

• Nvida self-programming car• AI bots spontaneously learning and communicating in

their own language

• How does autonomous agency fit with or challenge supply chain responsibilities within the Model WHS Act?

Emerging risksPrivacy• Link between violations of privacy

and psycho-social harms• Monitoring of locations, activities,

and health details• Particular difficulties in treatment,

diagnosis, and causality attribution of psycho-social harms

• Existing and emerging technologies can help protect privacy

Emerging risksSafety culture• ‘Risk compensation’ – behavioural

shift around safety perception• Safety features of ICT-EPs may lead

to change in attitudes• Advancement of automated safety

systems may result in safety deskilling

Emerging risksCybersecurity• Greater connectivity = greater risk• Some risks include:

• hijacked autonomous vehicles (drones, trucks and ships)

• WiFi-enabled co-bots interacting in close proximity to humans.

• How can cybersecurity be better incorporated into product manufacturing and/or design?

Conclusion• The Australian workforce faces

technological, business, demographic, and structural changes

• Safety and rehabilitation requirements may need to change accordingly

• There are challenges to be addressed and opportunities to be embraced

Questions?Data61

Joanna Horton – Research Analyst

T +61 7 3227 4015E joanna.horton@data61.csiro.auW www.data61.csiro.au