Energy Chamber to use AI for safety certification

THE Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago says it will soon begin using artificial intelligence (AI) to “significantly enhance the efficiency” of its Safe to Work (Stow) certification process.

The chamber said the purpose is to reduce time between the close-out of audits and the final decision on Stow certification.

The review process currently involves three separate quality-control checks by the chamber’s staff, independent quality-control reviews and volunteer staff of major operator companies who sit on the Stow board.

“This quality-control and assurance procedure is necessary to ensure the integrity of the Stow assessment process, but it is time-consuming and leads to delays between the completion of an audit and the issuance of certificates,” the chamber said in a media release.

The initiative is partially funded by the European Union and the Inter-American Development Bank Lab and is being carried out by the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (Cariri) through its Shaping the Future of Innovation programme.

“The Energy Chamber anticipates that integrating AI into the audit review process will ensure that audit reports are handled with greater speed and accuracy.”

The Stow programme, it said, has created nearly 2,500 individual assessment reports with at least 334,000 pieces of evidence used to assess whether companies are meeting the stringent Stow requirements.

This involved thousands of hours of paid and voluntary time to ensure companies are compliant with safety regulations in the petrochemical and heavy-industry sectors.

“By leveraging advanced AI technologies, the Energy Chamber and the Stow board will be able to reduce certification times, minimise errors, and enhance the overall experience for our members and other companies applying to be Stow certified.”

Cariri’s Shaping the Future of Innovation programme is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Planning and Development, the EU and IDB Labs.