SIF exposure tracking, simplifying and streamlining EHS systems and artificial intelligence/predictive analytics are the top priorities for the next 12-24 months reported by EHS executives surveyed earlier this year by the What Works Institute & Evotix for the 2026 EHS Strategy & Innovation Survey and Executive Roundtable.

The survey results are captured in a report released in late November, Risk Recalibrated: the 2026 Executive Leadership Report on AI, SIF, and Human-Centric EHS.

Among the findings:

• Most organizations (80%) have started serious injury and fatality (SIF) prevention work, but definitions of SIFs can vary widely – undercutting a cohesive national effort to reduce SIF rates -- and securing leadership support is a top obstacle.  
• Few organizations (19%) currently use metrics that closely track serious-risk drivers. Many still rely on TRIR even though it can misdirect attention.  
• Most organizations (94%) are in some stage of using digital EHS systems. Few are at an advanced stage (8% are scaling AI); most are early on and exploring or piloting. According to the survey, leading AI concerns are accuracy/bias (58%), privacy (39%) and explainability (36%). Most workforces (75%) are taking an open but cautious approach to AI.
• EHS silos are still a problem. Only about one-quarter (27%) of organizations surveyed report routine, strategic collaboration between EHS and HR/wellbeing. The lack of alignment, integration and collaboration leads to misaligned incentives that impede learning, according to the report.  
• Human-centric safety – accounting for factors such as fatigue, stress, cognitive load, emotional harm/trauma, neurodiversity and psychological safety -- is gaining traction in terms of awareness but not so much in applied interventions. Again, EHS silos can be a problem. According to the survey, 89% say psychosocial/cognitive factors are only partially or not embedded in the organization. Only three percent report human-centric factors are fully integrated into the EHS management systems. Top challenges to greater use of interventions: competing priorities, how to measure the impact of factors, lack of clarity about who owns the issue (EHS vs HR vs Wellbeing) and leadership not believing that psychosocial and cognitive factors pose a serious risk.