Documents Applied Sciences 4 results

"The evolution of Industry 4.0 and the emerging paradigm of Industry 5.0 have introduced disruptive technologies that are reshaping modern manufacturing environments. Among these, Digital Twin (DT) and Industrial Metaverse (IM) technologies are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). However, a comprehensive understanding of how these technologies integrate to support OHS in manufacturing remains limited. This study systematically explores the transformative role of DT and IM in creating immersive, intelligent, and human-centric safety ecosystems. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of 75 peer-reviewed studies from the SCOPUS and Web of Science databases was conducted. The review identifies key enabling technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Extended Reality (XR), Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), and Collaborative Robots (COBOTS), and highlights their applications in real-time monitoring, immersive safety training, and predictive hazard mitigation. A conceptual framework is proposed, illustrating a synergistic digital ecosystem that integrates predictive analytics, real-time monitoring, and immersive training to enhance the OHS. The findings highlight both the transformative benefits and the key adoption challenges of these technologies, including technical complexities, data security, privacy, ethical concerns, and organizational resistance. This study provides a foundational framework for future research and practical implementation in Industry 5.0."

This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"Human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience are the core pillars of the Industry 5.0 concept. The human-centric perspective emphasizes the development of socio-technical systems designed to enhance human health, safety, and well-being while fostering sustainable practices that benefit society at large. This paper presents a systematic literature review to identify the key characteristics of human-centered work environments. The findings reveal growing interest in human factors and ergonomics, with notable gaps in cognitive ergonomics requiring further attention. Beyond ensuring safety and health, human-centric systems must address cognitive workload and well-being to maintain productivity, efficiency, and motivation, which are closely tied to a company's market performance. This study provides valuable insights for both scientific and industrial stakeholders, outlining the principles and requirements essential for the effective implementation of human-centric systems."

"Large language models, such as ChatGPT-4 and Google Bard, have demonstrated potential in healthcare. This study explores their utility in occupational medicine, a field where decisions rely on compliance with specific workplace health and safety regulations. A dataset of questions encompassing key occupational health topics derived from the Italian Legislative Decree 81/08, which governs workplace health and safety, was utilized. Responses from ChatGPT-4 with contextual information (ChatGPT-4+context) and Google Bard were evaluated for accuracy and completeness, with error categorization used to identify common issues. Subcategories of the topics of the regulations were analyzed as well. In total, 433 questions were included in our analysis. ChatGPT-4+context surpasses Bard in terms of accuracy and completeness in responses, with a lower error rate in the categories analyzed, except for the percentage of missed responses. In the subcategories analyzed, Bard is superior to ChatGPT-4+context only in the areas of the manual handling of loads and physical hazards. ChatGPT-4+context outperformed Bard in providing answers about Italian regulations on health and safety at work. This study highlights the potential and limitations of large language models as decision-support tools in occupational medicine and underscores the importance of regulatory context in enhancing their reliability."

This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"Using a science mapping approach, we analyzed the exponential increase in the number of scientific documents about the negative environmental impacts produced by waste from personal protective equipment (PPE), especially face masks, used to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission worldwide. Our results revealed that India, China, and Canada are leaders in this research field, which is clearly related to environmental issues, but also the solutions developed from an engineering point of view. Our analysis of the most-relevant documents in the field uncovered the considerable negative effects of PPE waste in aquatic media, its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, effects on wildlife, etc. To reduce the negative environmental impacts of PPE waste, we need to implement innovative ecodesign strategies for their green production, including their re-use as and the use of recycling materials, but also a collaboration with the population to reduce PPE waste at its source. Both action lines could be materialized by establishing a collective, extended producer responsibility system for PPE to ensure their sustainable production and consumption. These well-implemented strategies will contribute to maintaining progress towards achieving sustainable development goals."