Manifesto for Global Industrial Safety presented at GMC 2025 in Hangzhou

At the recent Global Manufacturing and China (GMC) 2025 in Hangzhou, China, Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy’s Zongshuai Fan presented the Manifesto for Global Industrial Safety during a high-level session on digital technologies and industrial safety.

The Manifesto, developed by CIIP in collaboration with the Global Initiative for Future Industrial Safety (GIFIS), urges urgent, coordinated action to ensure new technologies address safety risks for workers worldwide. The manifesto marks a significant advancement in global industrial safety development.

Policy Analyst Zongshuai chaired the roundtable discussion titled “Using Digital Technology to Improve Industrial Safety,” which brought together leading figures from industry and academia. He set the scene for the panel by highlighting the manifesto’s five guiding principles for creating safer industrial systems. These include ensuring that safety is central to technology decisions and exploiting new technology- enabled safety solutions.

The panel examined the risks posed by new industrial technologies, shared examples of innovative safety solutions – many drawn from China’s fast-developing manufacturing sector – and explored how developing economies can best implement digital tools to strengthen safety systems.

The session, featuring contributions from Ni Jun (CATL and Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Lou Zhongping (Soton Daily Necessities), Wang Chunjiang (Ningbo Jetron Technology), and Zhou Yuan (Tsinghua University), underscored both the opportunities and the challenges of digital transformation. Panellists highlighted the critical importance of international collaboration, support for SMEs given their limited resources compared with established companies, and the entrepreneurial spirit needed to improve workplace safety.

Zongshuai emphasised that the manifesto is not only a call to action but also a roadmap for governments, businesses, and researchers to work together in shaping a safer industrial future.

The GMC 2025 discussions reinforced that while digital technologies hold immense promise for improving industrial safety, their potential can only be realised if safety considerations are embedded from the outset and effectively implemented onsite.

The Manifesto for Global Industrial Safety

The Manifesto for Global Industrial Safety outlines five guiding principles and vital contributions required from industry, government, academia, regulators, and international organisations to promote the safe adoption of technology in new industrial processes.

Particular emphasis is placed on ensuring relevance to developing countries disproportionately affected by occupational accidents and particularly vulnerable to climate-change-related hazards. The manifesto also recognises the specific safety challenges faced by groups in the informal economy, such as women and migrant workers.

Authored by members of Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy (CIIP) and developed in collaboration with GIFIS, a partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Lloyd’s Register Foundation and the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) – the manifesto is the first of its kind.

Download the manifesto