ISHN recently interviewed R. Mukund, CEO of Benchmark Gensuite, about key EHS issues uncovered in the company’s 2026 EHS Benchmarking Report.

Q: What accounts for almost half (45%) of survey respondents reporting increased injury frequency in 2025, up from 18% in 2024? And what is driving the increase in severe injuries (39% reported increased injury severity, compared to 13% the year prior)?

The increase reflects strain, not lack of commitment. EHS teams are carrying more responsibilities than ever before. Sustainability reporting, emergency preparedness, and compliance expectations are expanding at the same time production demands continue to rise. Serious injuries are often preceded by near misses or small deviations. As responsibilities grow and teams are stretched thin, safety teams have less capacity to surface those warning signs early or act on them. This becomes even more complex when work is performed by contractors, as safety practices and training may vary.

The spike in both frequency and severity suggests organizations are operating faster, with less margin for error. Safety systems designed for more predictable operations are now supporting far greater operational variability and complexity. Unless visibility and risk detection capabilities evolve to match that increased pace, incident rates will continue to reflect that imbalance.

Q: Why are leading-edge EHS programs reporting significantly more injuries when national injury and illness rates were at a 20-year low in 2024?

2025 marked the point when structural shifts became visible on the frontlines. Tariff uncertainty and supply chain changes forced many manufacturers and logistics operators to adjust sourcing, onboard new suppliers, or reconfigure production, introducing unfamiliar workflows and risk exposure. At the same time, shifting federal regulatory priorities and enforcement signals required organizations to quickly adapt guidelines and reporting practices. 

National injury statistics remain an essential benchmark, but they reflect earlier conditions. Our benchmarking captures employer-reported experiences from 2025, particularly in higher-risk sectors, offering a more immediate view of how safety performance is adjusting. The survey reflects a range of organizations across the industry, reflecting diverse operating environments, program maturity level, and systems deployed.

Q: The survey identifies increased demand (44%) and workforce issues (42%) as leading contributors to incidents. What are examples of how EHS jobs are more demanding?

In practice, increased demand can show up as compressed production timelines and reduced downtime between jobs. In manufacturing, that can mean running additional shifts to meet reshoring or backlog pressures that are common in today’s supply chains. In construction and engineering, it may involve overlapping project phases to hit tighter delivery timelines. In logistics and warehousing, it often translates to higher expectations with the same, or fewer, staffing levels.

That faster pace also puts pressure on EHS teams to maintain oversight and training, often across a mix of internal employees and contractor crews. Without corresponding staffing or support, preventive measures can be compressed, increasing incident risk.

Q: What specific workforce issues are contributing to incidents?

Many industrial sectors are managing elevated turnover, skilled trade retirements, and difficulty recruiting experienced workers. Federal labor data shows heightened hiring demand in construction, manufacturing, and logistics, with tens of thousands of annual replacement openings driven by retirements alone. That turnover directly affects safety performance.

OSHA has long noted that a significant share of workplace injuries occur within an employee’s first year on the job. When organizations are onboarding large numbers of new or reassigned workers, the risk profile changes. Even strong training programs cannot immediately replace the situational awareness that experienced employees develop over time.

A similar dynamic applies to contractors and temporary workers who may be less familiar with site-specific hazards, equipment, and reporting expectations. That can create inconsistency and increase the importance of clear training and oversight. In many cases, contractor qualification processes focus on documentation rather than real-world performance, which can make it harder to fully assess risk exposure.

Q: The survey also cites time shortages (33%) and insufficient training (32%) as contributors to increased incidents. Why are organizations facing time shortages?

Time shortages reflect the pace and complexity of modern operations. EHS professionals are balancing audits, compliance requirements, training coordination, and field engagement across more sites and responsibilities.

At the same time, facilities are operating at higher utilization rates, leaving less downtime for safety activities such as inspections, coaching, and training. When schedules tighten, onboarding and refresher training may be delayed, increasing the likelihood of improper equipment usage, incorrect task execution, or less careful actions. Over time, those gaps reduce oversight and increase exposure to incidents.

The result is less time to reinforce safe practices and address emerging risks before they escalate.

Q: The survey reports 90% of respondents say workplace incidents, hazards, or near misses are going underreported, up from 79% last year. Why is underreporting becoming a bigger issue? 

Underreporting often comes down to a disconnect between reporting systems and the way work actually gets done. In many environments, employees must temporarily set aside the task at hand, log into a separate system, or manually relay a hazard or near miss. When reporting is not easily accessible at the point of work, participation declines, and organizations lose visibility into everyday risk.

The issue is not willingness, but accessibility. Workers are far more likely to report when the process is quick, intuitive, and integrated into the tools they already use.

That is why technology plays a critical role. Mobile-enabled reporting, integrated workflows, and real-time prompts make it easier for employees to capture issues as they happen. When reporting fits naturally into daily routines and is reinforced by visible follow-through, organizations gain more complete insight and can act earlier to prevent incidents.

Q: The survey shows 92% of EHS leaders are using generative AI and 86% are using agentic AI in day-to-day work. Why is AI adoption not translating into improvements in workload, injury prevention, or reporting rates?

While AI adoption is widespread throughout the industry, most organizations are still using it primarily for administrative task support. Generative tools are helping draft documentation, summarize incident reports, and prepare for audits. Those uses improve efficiency, but they do not by themselves reduce exposure to hazards or prevent incidents.

Prevention requires AI to be integrated into operational workflows. When connected to maintenance activity, workforce scheduling, and other operational data, AI can help identify risks earlier and support better decisions before work begins.

This takes time. Deploying AI tools is one step, but embedding them into frontline routines and decision-making requires process alignment and organizational adoption.

As that shift happens, AI has the potential to move beyond supporting paperwork and play a role in strengthening day-to-day risk awareness and prevention.