10/07/2026: Understanding How AI Impacts Worker Health and Safety

Webinar Navigation

Photo of Speakers: Mishal Khan, Terrysa Guerra, John Sadowski, and Yasin Khan

About the webinar:

Corporations are spending billions to integrate AI and automation technologies into workplaces that are rapidly reshaping how we work and live. How is US policy keeping up with these changes? How are workers encountering these new technologies in their workplaces and how can safety professionals apply existing tools to emerging hazards around AI. We will discuss AI in the workplace from each of these perspectives; recent laws, worker experiences and a conceptual framework for safety professionals.

This presentation by LOHP in collaboration with COEH is based on the Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program (WOSHTEP) administered by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation in the California Department of Industrial Relations through interagency agreements with the Labor Occupational Health Program at the University of California, Berkeley; the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at the University of California, Davis; and the Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Learning Objectives

At the completion of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Understand the current policy landscape of AI and automation in the United States
Describe how long income retail and fulfillment center workers are encountering AI along with their perceptions and feelings about these tools
Learn how to conceptualize AI hazards using familiar workplace health and safety assessment principles

Speakers: Mishal Khan, Terrysa Guerra, John Sadowski, PhD, and Yasin Khan

Mishal Khan is a senior researcher in the Technology and Work Program at the University of California Berkeley Labor Center. A sociologist by training, she researches the impacts of new digital technologies on workplaces in the U.S. as well as public policy responses. Her work has covered a broad range of contemporary policy issues such as forced labor across global supply chains, labor migration, and most recently the gig economy and the future of work. Terrysa Guerra is a national leader in worker power, progressive politics and advocacy with over 20 years of experience leading nonprofit, political, and worker-focused campaigns that have won new labor standards, secured millions of dollars for working families, and reached millions of voters. As Executive Director of United for Respect/Education Fund, she has helped win guaranteed severance pay, stable work hours for more than 2 million working families, and more than $20 million in hardship assistance for 30,000 laid-off Toys “R” Us workers, while building voter and organizing infrastructure in battleground states. John Sadowski, Ph.D., is a scientist specializing in the workplace health and safety impacts of emerging technologies. He was formerly a senior technical analyst in the NIOSH Office of the Director. Yasin Khan, MPH, is a Program Coordinator at UC Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program, where she develops and implements initiatives to improve workplace health and safety for a variety of workers in high-hazard industries through training and education, policy, and research.

ACCREDITATION

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health designates this activity for a maximum of 1.0 Contact Hour. Participants should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Certificates of Completion

Certificates of Completion will be available to webinar participants who are present for the complete, live webinar, and logged in with their registered email address. Call-in attendees are not eligible for certificates at this time - Please download the Zoom app to log in via email on your smartphone whenever possible.

In order to receive your Certificate of Completion, qualified learners must complete the post-webinar evaluation within 7 days of the webinar. A link to the evaluation will be emailed to qualified learners 24 hours after the webinar via no-reply@zoom.us. Qualified learners who submit their evaluation will receive a Certificate of Completion via email, and can also print/save the certificate from their browser after submitting their evaluation.

If you're not able to attend the live presentation, no problem! We record most presentations and will host them on our website provided we have permission to do so. Presentation recordings are not eligible for Certificates of Completion.

About the Labor Occupational Health Program

LOHP promotes safe, healthy, and just workplaces and builds the capacity of workers and worker organizations to take action for improved working conditions. We work with a range of partners including unions, worker centers and community organizations, agencies, employer groups, policy makers, and academics.

We look broadly at the impact of work on health and we advance the principle that Healthy Jobs – which pay a living wage, provide job security and benefits, protect against hazards and harassment, have reasonable workloads, and engage workers in the decisions that affect them – are a basic human right.

ACCESSIBILITY:

If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) to fully participate in this event, please contact Will Bellamy at (510) 642-8365 or wbellamy@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail) with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event.