Safety AI only works if workers accept it, and acceptance depends on knowing what is recorded, who sees it and when it is deleted. Here is what a good policy covers.
By the Sentrick Industrial team · Published October 14, 2026
Introducing vision AI on a worksite raises a fair question from the crew: what exactly is being recorded about me? If the answer is vague, people assume the worst, and a tool meant to reduce injuries becomes a source of friction. A short, clear data retention and privacy policy, agreed before cameras go live, is one of the most effective trust-building steps a safety team can take. It is also good risk management, because the organization should know what data it holds and why. This article is general information, not legal advice; requirements vary by location, so involve your legal counsel.
A policy should begin by stating why the system exists: to detect hazards, support incident prevention and improve safety practices. It should also say what the system is not for. If the intent is safety, say that footage and detections are not used for routine productivity monitoring or unrelated discipline, and be consistent in practice. Purpose limitation is the foundation of worker trust and a principle that many privacy frameworks share.
List the data types: live video, short event clips, detection metadata such as counts of PPE violations by zone, and alert logs. Then ask whether each is necessary. Many safety goals can be met with event data and short clips rather than continuous recording stored for long periods. Collecting less reduces both privacy risk and storage cost. Where the system can process video on the device and keep only events, consider doing so.
Define how long each data type is kept and what happens afterward. Routine footage with no incident is commonly kept for a short window, while clips tied to an incident or investigation may be retained longer under a hold. The right periods depend on your industry, local rules, insurance and contractual requirements, so confirm them with counsel and your insurer rather than copying a number from the internet. Whatever you choose, automate deletion so it actually happens.
Limit access by role. Safety managers reviewing alerts need different access from site supervisors, and most employees need none beyond the alerts relevant to them. Keep an access log so that you can show who viewed what and when. Review the list of authorized users regularly, especially when people change roles or contractors leave the project.
Tell the crew before the system goes live: what is monitored, where cameras are, how detections are used and how to ask questions or raise concerns. Post visible notices on site and cover the topic in onboarding for new hires and subcontractors. Involving worker representatives or safety committees early often surfaces concerns that are simple to address, such as excluding break areas and restrooms from monitoring.
Many systems allow privacy zones that mask areas that should not be recorded, blurring of faces in stored clips, and detection of behaviors, such as missing PPE or entry into a hazard zone, without identifying individuals. Prefer configurations that focus on situations rather than people. Watching for a hazard zone intrusion is different from tracking a named individual, and the former is usually all that safety requires.
Decide in advance how you handle requests to view footage from workers, regulators or insurers, and how you respond if data is accessed improperly. Define a process for preserving footage after a serious incident, and a process for documenting that the preservation was done correctly. Having these steps written down avoids improvised decisions at a stressful moment.
New cameras, new software features and new regulations all change the picture. Schedule a periodic review, perhaps annually or at each major system change, and track changes so people can see what was updated. A policy that evolves openly is more credible than one that sits in a binder.
Sentrick Industrial focuses on behavioral and vision AI that detects hazards and unsafe situations on worksites. Sentrick encourages customers to define their own retention and access rules with legal counsel and to share them with their crews before deployment.
Trust is part of the safety system. State the purpose, collect only what you need, set and automate retention, restrict access, tell people what is happening and review the policy regularly. A clear privacy and retention framework makes it far more likely that workers see safety AI as protection rather than surveillance.