In a letter sent to the French Permanent Representation to the EU, Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission, industriAll Europe, who represents seven million workers across the mining, manufacturing and energy sectors, raised concerns that proposed amendments to the legislation could create dangerous regulatory gaps for AI systems used in machinery and personal protective equipment (PPE).

At the centre of the dispute is a proposal to remove machinery, PPE-related as well as 10 other sectorial legislations from Annex I, Section A of the AI Act. IndustriAll Europe argues that such a move would downgrade the regulatory treatment of AI-enabled safety systems and potentially exempt them from the full set of obligations currently applied to high-risk AI applications.

According to the union, this would have direct consequences for occupational safety and health at a time when AI technologies are becoming increasingly integrated into industrial machinery, automated systems and protective equipment used by workers at the workplace.

The federation also warned against attempts to narrow the definition of “safety components” under Article 6(1) of the AI Act, arguing that such changes could amount to the de facto deregulation of high-risk AI systems operating in industrial settings.

IndustriAll Europe calls on the European Commission and co-legislators to clarify whether the final text of the legislation will include a binding non-regression clause to guarantee that transferring machinery legislation to Section B of Annex I would not reduce the level of worker protection.

Has the European Commission carried out a dedicated worker safety impact assessment on the proposed changes? And, if so, will the findings be made public.

In addition, industriAll Europe asks whether there is evidence to support the Commission and rapporteur’s claim that the current inclusion of machinery legislation in Section A represents a disproportionate burden for manufacturers.

“Excluding machinery and personal protective equipment from Annex I, Section A of the AI Act would create dangerous loopholes in areas where workers’ lives and safety are directly at stake,” said Isabelle Barthès, Deputy General Secretary of industriAll Europe.

“The EU must not lower the level of protection in the name of simplification,” she added.

IndustriAll Europe further criticises the broader approach of the Omnibus initiative, arguing that these amendments would lead to reopening 12 pieces of sector-specific legislation to integrate AI provisions, contradicting the stated objective of regulatory simplification.

We stress that workers in mining, manufacturing and energy sectors already face complex and hazardous working conditions, with increasing automation intensifying challenges linked to human-machine interaction and workplace safety.