ASSP 2026 Keynote Highlights Shift From Compliance To Predictive AI Safety
Futurist Dan Chuparkoff outlines how machine learning transforms 1,300-page regulatory books and raw incident data into instantaneous, live workplace insights.
- By Stasia DeMarco
- Jun 16, 2026
Artificial intelligence is positioned to fundamentally change how safety professionals identify hazards, access critical information and prevent workplace incidents, according to technology futurist Dan Chuparkoff, keynote speaker at ASSP 2026.
Addressing attendees at the American Society of Safety Professionals' annual conference, Chuparkoff said the industry is moving beyond traditional compliance-focused programs and toward a future where AI provides real-time insights that help organizations anticipate risks before injuries occur.
“We're going to shift from annual compliance oversight to live hazard insights,” he said. “We're going to use that to predict repeating hazards, we're going to be able to get job-site guidance and standard answers at our fingertips, and we're going to turn near misses into prevention systems so that we can prevent those things going forward in the future.”
According to Chuparkoff, AI's ability to analyze large amounts of data and surface actionable information could help safety professionals move from reactive incident management to continuous prevention. Technologies already emerging in the marketplace can identify patterns in workplace data, flag potential hazards and provide workers with timely guidance before an incident occurs.
He also sees AI dramatically changing how safety professionals interact with regulations and standards.
“We're going to get from buried standards in that 1,300-page book to guidance in seconds,” Chuparkoff explained. “It's giving you answers in seconds, and that's amazing. That gives people an advantage they didn't have before when they were trying to keep all that stuff in their heads.”
The result, he predicted, will be faster access to regulatory information, task-specific safety recommendations and real-time support for workers and supervisors alike.
While many AI applications are still evolving, Chuparkoff encouraged safety professionals to begin exploring the technology now. As AI becomes more integrated into workplace operations, he believes its greatest value will be helping safety leaders spend less time searching for information and more time focused on prevention, decision-making and protecting workers.
About the Author
Stasia DeMarco brings a strong and varied journalism background to her role at Occupational Health & Safety, having previously served as a multimedia editor, broadcast journalist, professor and reviewer across major news organizations. As Content Editor, she writes news and feature articles, hosts sponsor and editorial webinars, co-hosts the SafetyPod worker health and safety podcast, and manages the brand’s digital and social media presence. She is committed to informing and engaging the safety community through compelling reporting and conversations that support safer, healthier workplaces.