VelocityEHS is once again raising the bar for contractor safety, control of work, and permit-to-work management with all new AI-driven contractor compliance and verification capabilities, part of the VelocityEHS Contractor Safety solution.
Contractor safety is a top priority for EHS professionals across virtually every industry as employment of contingent workers including contractors and temporary workers in high-risk industries continues to rise. Unfortunately, many organizations still rely on manual, paper-based systems to manage increasingly complex contractor verification, training, qualification, compliance assurance, and other core contractor safety tasks. These outdated methods saddle employers with unnecessary delays, administrative burdens, and increased exposure to safety and compliance risks.
Let’s look at some of the biggest challenges today’s EHS professionals face in managing contractor safety, some current trends in contractor and contingent worker employment, and how innovative AI technologies from VelocityEHS are opening up new opportunities for efficiency and contractor safety performance.
Contractor Safety Management Challenges
For many companies, contractor safety tasks are often inefficient and overwhelming. Key pain points include:
- Manual document reviews that are time-consuming and error-prone
- Fragmented systems like spreadsheets and emails, leading to compliance gaps
- Lack of expertise among non-EHS teams responsible for contractor qualification
- Increased audit and legal risk due to documentation errors, expired credentials, overlooked compliance requirements, etc.
These issues are particularly problematic in highly regulated industries such as food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, and chemical manufacturing, where strict regulatory oversight makes even minor lapses particularly damaging. With EHS teams often stretched thin, many organizations are seeking smarter, faster, and more accurate ways to manage contractor verification.
Contractor Safety & Employment Trends
A 2024 US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey of contingent (non-permanent) and alternative employment arrangements revealed that 6.9 million workers or 4.3% of the total US labor force reported contingent/temporary employment as their primary occupation. This is up from 3.8 percent in 2017 when the survey was last conducted. The 2024 BLS survey also found that 11.9 million workers, fully 7.4% of the US labor force characterized themselves as “independent contractors.” These estimates may also be on the more conservative side, with a separate study from ADP® showing that the percentage of contingent workers in the US labor force rose from 14.2% to 16.4% between 2010-2019.
Additionally, contingent workers and contractors are often employed in high-risk industries like manufacturing, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. According to a study from ProPublica.org, contingent/temporary workers were 68% more likely than non-temporary workers to be working in the 20% of occupations with the highest injury rates, as measured by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The prevalence of contingent workers in these high-risk industries combined with the inherent challenges of managing contractor safety (contractor qualification, compliance verification, training, injury and illness recordkeeping, etc.) has resulted in higher rates of injury and illness among these workers. In fact, workplace recordable injury rates for contingent workers were 72% higher compared to their full-time counterparts performing the same kinds of work.
These elevated risks, combined with a complex regulatory landscape and an ever-expanding list of contractor safety management tasks, make contractor safety software and automation of contractor verification processes a critical business need.
Introducing VelocityEHS Contractor Safety Software with AI
To address these widespread challenges, VelocityEHS has introduced a groundbreaking feature as part of its Contractor Safety solution—Contractor Safety AI. This human-enabled AI technology accelerates and automates contractor document review and verification processes, delivering:
- 7x faster verification compared to manual reviews
- AI-powered accuracy that reduces human error and ensures compliance
- Guided workflows and real-time compliance tracking for streamlined operations
- AI-assisted decision-making that even non-experts can use with confidence
Contractor Safety AI eliminates bottlenecks caused by manual verification of critical contractor compliance documentation like Certificates of Insurance (COIs) and OSHA 300 Logs, allowing for faster onboarding and minimizing compliance risk.
A Human + AI Partnership for Smarter Safety
The Contractor Safety AI capability automates document review and compliance verification processes by utilizing AI to analyze contractor-submitted documentation, enabling faster and more accurate compliance review. By reducing delays, minimizing errors, and streamlining administrative tasks, Contractor Safety AI empowers organizations to make better decisions and manage contractor safety more effectively. The result is improved operational efficiency, making this capability a game-changer for customers who rely on high numbers of contractors, are struggling with complex workflows and/or compliance risks, and who need to get the most from resource-constrained EHS teams.
One of the most innovative features that sets our Contractor Safety AI capability apart is the human-influenced AI engine which supports and empowers EHS professionals to continuously improve contractor safety management processes. AI recommendations are paired with automated audit trails of human decision-making processes, helping to ensure consistency, accountability, and transparency of contractor compliance verification. The AI engine even learns from user inputs to improve future recommendations, making it smarter and more accurate over time.
This capability is especially valuable for organizations where non-EHS staff, such as maintenance, production supervisors, HR, or procurement teams play a role in contractor qualification and onboarding. With AI-generated risk flagging, qualification prompts, and simplified workflows, even those without deep EHS and compliance expertise can effectively verify to contractor safety and compliance.
Results That Matter: Efficiency, Accuracy, and Reduced Risk
VelocityEHS Contractor Safety AI helps organizations capitalize on new opportunities to improve performance across several key operational areas:
- Operational Efficiency: Drastically reduce the time spent reviewing documents and eliminate approval backlogs.
- Improved Accuracy: AI-driven validation catches errors humans might miss, lowering the risk for non-compliance.
- Lower Administrative Burden: EHS professionals can focus on strategic initiatives instead of chasing documents and going back-and-forth with prospective contractors.
- Better Safety Outcomes: Fast, reliable contractor vetting leads to fewer incidents and improved site safety performance.
As Matt Airhart, CEO of VelocityEHS, puts it:
“Our mission is to help create safer workplaces. We are dedicated to developing AI-driven innovation that enables our customers to reach better outcomes faster.”
The Future of Contractor Safety and AI in EHS
Like many other enterprise software applications, the integration of AI into EHS software is not a fleeting trend—it’s the future of the industry and the future is here. AI technologies can digest large volumes of data, recognize compliance patterns, and flag anomalies at speeds no human team can match. As regulations grow more complex and labor trends shift toward greater use of contractors, intelligent systems like Contractor Safety AI are becoming essential tools.
VelocityEHS Contractor Safety AI marks a pivotal transformation in how organizations manage contractor compliance and verification. By combining the speed and intelligence of AI with the expertise and oversight of human professionals, it delivers faster, safer, and more reliable verification processes—while freeing up teams to focus on more strategic safety goals. For organizations in high-risk industries, this innovation isn’t just about checking a box—it’s about building a proactive safety culture, mitigating risk, making it easier for workers at all levels to help support contractor safety, and setting a new standard for operational excellence.
Ready to See It in Action?
We’re ready to help you simplify contractor safety & permitting with our machine learning + AI enhanced cloud-based platform, and give you real-time visibility and control over compliance across all job sites and facilities. Manage you permits in one place, ensure compliance, and minimize administrative burdens all with one, easy-to-use software solution that helps you:
- Collect, track, manage contractor compliance in one place
- Process Certs of Insurance & OSHA Logs 7x faster with AI
- Easily control risk & cut administrative work by 90%
- Proactively identify gaps at all sites & all levels
Request a personalized demo or learn more about the VelocityEHS Contractor Safety solution today and take the first step toward smarter, safer operations.