## 4 Results and Discussions
### Applications in Occupational Health and Safety in Manufacturing
#### 4.2.3 Immersive Safety Training
The integration of smart sensors, wearables, and VR and AR technologies supports employee safety training and hazard detection, helping to shape effective safety measures and control strategies [18]. In summary, immersive technologies provide a powerful alternative to traditional training by simulating real-world scenarios in a safe, resource-efficient, and sustainable manner. While traditional systems, such as 2D manuals, e-learning modules, checklist-based audits, and video or PowerPoint training, have long supported industrial safety through structured, rule-based approaches, they often fall short in adapting to real-time conditions or addressing human-centered risks. In contrast, emerging technologies, such as DTs and XR-enabled metaverse platforms, offer predictive and immersive tools that enhance training, situational awareness, and ergonomics. When integrated with DTs and immersive simulations, COBOTS and CPS enable adaptive, real-time human-robot interaction. As demonstrated in [46], DT and VR systems can dynamically adjust robot behavior based on worker position and fatigue, enhancing trust, reducing cognitive load, and ensuring ergonomic alignment in shared workspaces. However, these advanced systems also in troduce challenges related to implementation complexity and data integration, which are discussed in the following sections. To conclude, this study synthesizes multidisciplinary insights (Figure 5) into a unified, advanced digital ecosystem for OHS, consolidating diverse digital technologies into a cohesive safety innovation framework for smart manufacturing. This highlights how emerging technologies, such as DT and IM, are not only reshaping industrial operations but also enabling new paradigms and innovative approaches to workplace well-being. While adoption challenges remain, the convergence of DT and IM technologies provides a forward-looking blueprint for predictive, immersive, and human-centric safety strategies that are aligned with the principles of Industry 5.0. More importantly, this integration goes beyond the existing literature by linking predictive, immersive, and real-time systems into a human-centric digital ecosystem, offering practical pathways to advance OHS beyond compliance toward resilience and sustainability. Additionally, this study serves as a foundation for future empirical validation and real-world implementation of intelligent OHS frameworks in smart manufacturing environments. Furthermore, the key insights from the previous sections underscore the maturing landscape of enabling technologies in OHS applications. This study identifies the convergence of immersive, predictive, and integrative technologies that facilitate real-time monitoring, adaptive training, and personalized safety interventions. These findings align with recent research advocating for a proactive, data-driven, and human-centric redesign of OHS strategies. These findings align with recent research advocating the proactive, data-driven, and human-centric redesign of OHS strategies [3, 8, 36, 52, 59, 76]. Finally, bibliographic coupling analysis reinforces the centrality of immersive training, digital ergonomics, and intelligent system integration in shaping the current discourse on OHS transformation.