Case Studies—Ethical Challenges in a Changing Global and Technological Environment

This chapter explores the ethical implications of two transformative forces shaping contemporary occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS): artificial intelligence (AI) and globalization. AI technologies are increasingly integrated into OEHS functions—from exposure assessments to emergency planning—yet they raise profound ethical concerns, including transparency, accountability, bias, and the erosion of professional judgment. Similarly, globalization creates ethical complexities through varying labor standards, supply chain accountability, and transnational regulatory gaps. The chapter emphasizes how these developments challenge existing codes of ethics and require new frameworks of analysis. Drawing on case examples and current literature, the chapter demonstrates how OEHS professionals must not only adapt technically but also uphold ethical integrity when confronting these emerging pressures. Readers are introduced to the critical questions surrounding AI model use, data privacy, and cross-cultural decision-making, and they are shown how the ethics algorithm developed in this book can be applied to analyze these challenges.