Faster environmental risk assessment

Problem

A public-sector environmental safety team needed a faster way to assess complex reports submitted in varied formats against regulatory requirements. The existing manual process was time-consuming, and expected growth in the regulated estate would place more pressure on specialist reviewers.

What we did

Working with delivery partners and subject-matter experts, we developed a six-week proof of concept that combined document processing, codified business rules and responsible AI. The tool extracted report content, checked key compliance criteria, highlighted possible gaps or non-compliance, and presented the supporting evidence for expert review.

Result

The proof of concept demonstrated technical feasibility and delivered up to a 30% time saving against manual analysis. It was deliberately designed to support - not replace - professional judgement: specialists remained responsible for interpreting the evidence and making the final compliance decision.

The work also identified a route for further development, including stronger explainability, information handling and human-in-the-loop feedback.