Across Africa, AI now watches mine haul roads for workers too close to trucks, checks construction sites for missing helmets, predicts which machines will fail, scores drivers for fatigue, and schedules shifts in warehouses. Done well, it can prevent injuries and deaths in some of the world’s most dangerous workplaces. Done badly, it can create new hazards, give a false sense of safety, and turn safety tools into surveillance that erodes workers’ rights and dignity. This course trains OHS professionals and others to govern AI so it does the first and not the second.

Who it’s for

OHS managers and officers, safety engineers, HR and wellness leads, operations managers in mining, oil and gas, construction, manufacturing, agriculture and logistics, labour inspectors, trade union and worker safety representatives, insurers covering workers’ compensation, and technology suppliers to these sectors. No technical background or coding is needed: everything is built up from first principles, with workplace examples throughout.

What you’ll be able to do

• Explain how machine learning, computer vision, generative AI and autonomous systems work in workplaces, and how they fail.
• Map where AI is used across African workplaces, including informal and contractor-heavy ones.
• Apply ethics, worker rights and dignity to AI used for safety and management.
• Identify the OHS, labour, data protection and product safety rules that apply, including ILO conventions and ISO 45001.
• Design an AI governance framework within an OHS management system.
• Assure the safety of AI-enabled systems, robots and autonomous machinery.
• Govern worker surveillance and algorithmic management, including psychosocial risk.
• Write an AI policy, procure AI safety technology responsibly and bring shadow AI under control.
• Monitor, evaluate and provide compliance assurance for AI in use.

How it works

Twelve modules, about 45 hours in total, including assignments and the capstone, at your own pace. Each module mixes short readings with interactive practice set in fictional African mines, sites, factories, farms and warehouses. Practice is never marked.

Assessment: a quiz after each module, four applied assignments marked against a published rubric, a timed final exam, and a capstone in which you design AI governance for a fictional African mining and construction group, with peer review and assessor marking.

Certificate

Complete every step to earn the Certificate in AI Governance for Occupational Health and Safety, a verifiable digital certificate and Open Badge. Your capstone result (pass, merit or distinction) is shown on it.