AI Supporting HVAC Workers
An instant, accurate answer to a safety question without calling a supervisor or searching through manuals.
A technician on a construction site will soon get an instant, accurate answer to a safety question without calling a supervisor or searching through manuals. This is the practical outcome of a new AI tool developed by ARM Hub's AI Adopt Centre for the Air-conditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association of Australia (AMCA).
AMCA represents more than 130 businesses involved in the installation and servicing of commercial HVAC and mechanical services systems. Its members work in one of Australia's most regulated industries, where workers often need to verify procedures, confirm control measures, or interpret requirements in the middle of a job, without a dedicated safety manager on hand.
Until now, getting a reliable answer often meant searching through lengthy manuals or waiting for a supervisor. Under time pressure, outdated or incorrect information can create real compliance and safety risk.
The new AI OHS Assistant changes that. Workers ask a question in plain language and receive an immediate, sourced answer drawn only from AMCA's approved documentation, including Safe Work procedures, instructions, and method statements. Every response is traceable to an approved AMCA document. If a question falls outside the system's knowledge or requires human judgment, it escalates to a supervisor rather than speculating.
A second tool, the AI SWMS Generator, tackles one of the industry's most time-consuming tasks: producing Safe Work Method Statements. Under Australian WHS Regulations, a SWMS is legally required before any of 18 defined categories of high-risk construction work can start.
Today, many are produced by modifying old documents from memory; a process that can be slow, inconsistent, and prone to error. The generator guides users through a structured workflow built on AMCA-approved hazard libraries and templates, and can reduce completion time from up to four hours to under 15 minutes.
"What we are developing gives our members instant, reliable guidance that keeps them compliant and takes the guesswork out of an area that genuinely keeps people up at night," said Ben Hawkins, CEO, AMCA.
Three principles underpin both tools: safety first, copyright and governance, and auditability. The AI answers only what it can confidently source from AMCA-approved content and escalates everything else. It draws exclusively from AMCA's own documentation, which AMCA controls and updates. Every interaction is logged, creating a searchable record that supports compliance review and continuous improvement.
The pilot is now moving to further development. At current adoption, AMCA expects more than 3,000 safety queries per week and more than 400 SWMS documents generated per month across its member network.
"At the end of the day, this is about keeping people safe," says Hawkins. "And giving contractors the tools to do that without it costing them their business."
"What we are developing gives our members instant, reliable guidance that keeps them compliant and takes the guesswork out of an area that genuinely keeps people up at night."
