Completing the legal framework for occupational safety and health: Challenges from “invisible” risks

For decades, occupational safety and health (OSH) work has mainly focused on tangible risks such as unsafe machinery, electric shock, toxic chemicals, fires, explosions, and occupational dust. The legal system for OSH has also been built on the basis of identifying and controlling hazardous factors that can be seen, measured, and directly verified. However, entering the digital era, along with the strong development of artificial intelligence, big data, IoT, remote work, and the platform economy, the working environment is changing profoundly. Simultaneously, occupational risks are shifting from “tangible” to “intangible,” from physical hazards to non-traditional impacts that are difficult to identify but have long-term effects on physical and mental health and labor productivity. This necessitates the urgent need to further improve the legal framework for OSH to keep pace with modern labor practices.

1. The shift in occupational risks in the digital era

While occupational accidents were previously primarily associated with factories, construction sites, or production lines, the work environment has now expanded to the digital space and flexible work models. Workers not only face traditional risks but also must adapt to many new dangers arising from technology. A clear manifestation is “digital stress” – a state of tension caused by constantly connecting, processing large amounts of information, and being under pressure to respond instantly via email, text messages, or work management platforms. Many workers, even after working hours, are still caught up in the work cycle via smartphones and online meetings outside of work hours, leading to work-life imbalance, sleep disorders, and declining mental health. Along with this, remote work, freelance work, or online collaboration models, while offering flexibility, also increase feelings of isolation and social disconnection, easily leading to anxiety, depression, or burnout. In particular, the increasing involvement of artificial intelligence in labor management is creating invisible pressure as algorithms can assign tasks, evaluate performance, monitor behavior, and decide on rewards and punishments. These risks do not have immediate consequences but silently erode the health and quality of the workforce.

2. Digital transformation in OSH management in businesses

Digital technology not only creates new risks but also opens up many more effective tools for OSH management if applied correctly. Currently, many businesses are using smart sensors, wearable devices, AI cameras, and data analysis systems to monitor the working environment in real time. IoT devices can detect abnormal temperatures, toxic gases, vibrations, noise, or signs of fatigue in workers early on, helping to warn of risks before accidents occur. AI can also analyze accident data, work behavior, and environmental conditions to predict high-risk areas, supporting the development of more accurate preventive plans. In occupational health care, electronic health records and remote consultation platforms are facilitating more comprehensive monitoring of workers’ health. However, the application of technology also raises many new legal issues such as personal data protection, limits on corporate oversight, legal liability when AI makes incorrect decisions, or safety standards for collaborative
robots.

3. Policy “bottlenecks” in the face of new labour realities

Although the legal system regarding OSH has been gradually improved, the rapid development of the digital economy is revealing many policy gaps. Many current regulations are still built on the traditional labour relations model, while the workforce on digital platforms such as ridehailing drivers, delivery personnel, online collaborators, and freelancers is increasing. This is a group of workers who face high pressure and risks but are not adequately covered by OSH policies. In addition, current laws lack specific criteria to identify and assess nontraditional risks such as occupational stress, digital burnout, psychological disorders, or the impact of labour management algorithms. The technical standards system for AI, robots, occupational health data, and information security has also not kept pace with the speed of technological development.

4. Completing the legal framework for “invisible” risks

To meet the demands of the digital era, the completion of the legal framework for OSH needs to be approached in an open, flexible, and people-centered manner. First and foremost, the scope of OSH laws needs to be expanded to include non-traditional labour models, ensuring that all workers, whether working under formal contracts or through digital platforms, have access to risk prevention policies, insurance, and healthcare. Along with this, regulations should be added to identify, assess, and control non-traditional risks such as digital stress, occupational burnout, psychological disorders, and pressure from management algorithms; mental health should be considered an official component of a modern OSH system. At the same time, legal policies with sufficient “openness” are needed to quickly update technical standards for AI, collaborative robots, smart devices, and new technologies. In particular, it is necessary to study the legalization of the “right to disconnect,” ensuring that workers are not forced to handle work outside of working hours, except in special cases that have been agreed upon. Simultaneously, it is necessary to build a national OSH data ecosystem and continue to promote the role of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour and the trade union system at all levels in disseminating information, monitoring, and providing feedback on policies.

5. Conclusion

The “invisible” risks of the digital era are posing unprecedented challenges to OSH. While previously, protecting workers primarily involved protection from machinery, chemicals, and physical accidents, today it also includes protection from digital pressures, isolation, impersonal algorithms, and the insidious impacts of technology. Completing the legal framework for OSH in this new context therefore involves not only amending technical regulations but also reshaping labour management thinking towards a modern, humane, and adaptable approach. Only when the law is one step ahead, fully identifying these “invisible” risks, can we build a safe, sustainable, and truly human-centered work environment in the digital era.