If you're considering adopting AI-powered EHS management software to streamline your workplace health and safety operations, be sure to check out our interview with Intenseye EHS Director Funda Sayın. Discover how AI effectively addresses the challenges in safety management.
Can you tell us about your background and how you got started in EHS?
Funda: I began my career in EHS with a background in chemical engineering and occupational safety. This background helped me understand the complexities of safety and compliance much better. Simply aligning with safety compliance isn’t enough to make a workplace safer and healthier—it’s just the first step. As a matter of fact, relying solely on compliance doesn't just foster a reactive safety culture; it also breeds complacency, which allows unseen risks to remain unseen.
My journey started at Medical Devices, where I managed quality assurance and product safety. Over the years, I’ve accumulated over 20 years of experience in various sectors, including 3rd party certification bodies, BPO, and e-commerce. My roles at organizations like Intertek, SGS and Amazon further honed my expertise in global regulatory compliance, risk and safety management, which has been instrumental in my current role at Intenseye.
Why did you choose to join Intenseye?
Funda: Let’s be honest: the safety plateau is a serious fact facing the EHS world. Sure, it’s great that accident rates have dropped compared to 50 years ago, but we still have a long way to go. The International Labour Organization reports that nearly 3 million people die from work-related accidents and diseases every year. These are people who just want to make it home safely.
On top of that, the stagnation in the decline of the total recordable incident rate (TRIR) highlights the urgent need for AI-powered solutions to identify and address safety hazards more effectively.
This is why when I heard about Intenseye, I wowed at the platform capabilities as a safety professional. The potential to make a tangible difference in protecting the frontline and setting new standards in safety management is incredibly motivating. After learning details about the innovative approach to EHS through AI technology, I became 100% sure that I want to take part in this journey.
When we compare manual observations to AI, there’s no question that AI comes out on top. It’s a solution that allows EHS professionals to focus on their core responsibilities, making it a powerful tool for mitigating hazards. So here I am!
What do you think are the top challenges facing EHS teams today?
Funda: In my experience working with EHS teams, one of the key challenges they face on a day-to-day basis is keeping up with rapidly evolving regulations. These regulations can vary significantly by region, industry, and even by specific job site, making it a constant effort to stay compliant. It’s not just about understanding new rules as they come out, but also about effectively implementing them across diverse work environments.
Plus, every industry, setting, or plant comes with its own unique hazards, which makes it essential for EHS teams to shift towards proactive safety management. While over 80% of workers are open to trying new safety technologies, companies are still hesitant to integrate these into their existing safety frameworks.
The hesitancy is not a surprise—many people are concerned that a new EHS technology might just lead to even more data. Sorting through all that information to find the insights you need for preventive actions and deciding where to focus can be really tough. A lot of leaders I’ve spoken with recently have shared how overwhelming and time-consuming it is to pinpoint leading indicators from the meaningful data coming in from diverse sites and regions.
So EHS teams are dealing with a lot of challenges. But the good news is, there are solutions too.
How can AI-powered data improve decision-making processes within EHS management and contribute to the continuous improvement of EHS practices?
Funda: The data AI provides actually has the potential to transform the old ways of safety as we know it. Each piece of footage AI captures has an interesting story behind it waiting to be unveiled.
For example, one of our customers, Koçtaş, leveraged the data we captured, immediately took action and saw an impressive 89% reduction in safety hazards related to missing hard hats. They really made the most of our platform, especially the task management module, to assign tasks effectively.
This led to the decision to hold a toolbox talk on the importance of hard hat usage. By leveraging the task management module, Koçtaş also managed to get the frontline team actively involved in the safety process, which helped foster a behavior-based safety culture across the warehouse.
Learning from leading indicators is a very engaging way to prompt conversation and facilitate learning to identify and address issues systematically because AI can provide objective, accurate, real-time data.
Instead of relying solely on lagging indicators, safety teams can analyze patterns, frequencies, and root causes of safety incidents with leading indicators. And understanding these patterns enables safety teams to develop targeted training programs and implement corrective & preventive actions, effectively addressing high-risk behaviors.
This way, safety teams can allocate more time to value-adding tasks, establish robust safety measures, and achieve both time and resource savings.
How do AI and computer vision ensure a shared EHS culture across the organization?
Funda: Computer vision AI offers real-time feedback on the effectiveness of safety measures, helping identify which strategies are most effective across different sites and cultures, while also uncovering systemic issues that could heighten the risk of future incidents.
These real-time safety insights foster alignment on safety strategies and ownership from both frontline workers and management, thanks to their objective nature. This data-driven approach bridges the gap between planned safety procedures and actual practices, as well as strengthens the connection between frontline teams and leadership.
Another important aspect of our AI is that, with features like 3D anonymization, Intenseye’s AI doesn't track people—it tracks unsafe conditions and safety hazards. The data we collect is never used to pinpoint employees but rather to cultivate a strong, unified safety culture.
When we look at the bigger picture, it’s obvious that a shared EHS culture isn’t just about one site—it’s a company-wide responsibility. Intenseye’s Safety AI software recently introduced the Global View feature, which provides a holistic view of data across all your global facilities, allowing you to monitor global safety metrics in real-time. This unifies safety teams around the world, ensuring everyone is on the same page in terms of awareness and action.
Q: Do you have any advice for organizations to stay updated with the latest EHS regulations and ensure compliance?
Funda: The foundation of any effective safety initiative and to ensure compliance is risk assessment. Risk assessments involve:
• Identifying potential hazards in the workplace
• Evaluating the risks they pose & root causes
• Implementing corrective actions and solutions to mitigate them
Plus, I should recommend regular audits and reviews of compliance practices to ensure that organizations stay aligned with current regulations. And of course there are some resources to stay up-to-date with the regulatory changes like US CFR, EU Directive, AUS Regulations
By adopting Intenseye you can conduct a solid risk assessment and streamline your safety operations in one single platform.
What are the most urgent needs for EHS teams in safety management today?
Funda: EHS teams face significant challenges in managing and analyzing safety data. Safety leaders are overwhelmed by an influx of spreadsheets, PDFs, emails, and manual logs from various locations, which makes data collection a lengthy process. Gathering key safety indicators is particularly difficult. On average, safety teams spend up to three weeks preparing for quarterly reviews, and over half of organizations struggle to obtain the right data to support effective safety programs. These delays hinder decision-making and prevent teams from being proactive.
Feedback from operations and frontline leaders is consistent—they don’t require more data or complicated dashboards. What they truly need are real-time insights that enable quicker, smarter decisions.
What are your thoughts on the future of workplace safety technology, and how do you see us leading the way?
Funda: The future of workplace safety technology is very promising, with AI and ML driving significant advancements. I believe that Intenseye has the potential to lead the way by continuously innovating and setting new benchmarks in safety management.
Can you share a fun or lesser-known fact about yourself?
Funda: A lesser-known fact about me is that I have a passion for home planting. There are giant wild cacti, monstera deliciosa, strelitzia regina at my home. Hubby makes fun of that, saying they will seize the house soon And we also enjoy experimenting with cocktail recipes from different cultures and sharing with friends. I find that it is not only a creative outlet but also a great way to unwind and explore new perspectives as a team, much like how I approach problem-solving in my professional life.
