Occupational Well-Being: Enhancing Safety and Ergonomics in the Work Environment

Dear Colleagues,

Recent advances in computer science, electronics, and material engineering profoundly impact our daily lives. We have become more accustomed to wearables that monitor our health, sleep quality, or physical activity and offer personalized recommendations through embedded AI technology. This technological progress, combined with growing familiarity and societal acceptance of such technologies, as well as increased awareness regarding safety and health at work, has significantly accelerated the adoption of new technologies by companies operating in hazardous and multi-risk environments to enhance occupational health and safety and well-being.

Therefore, in this Special Issue titled “Occupational Well-being: Enhancing Safety and Ergonomics in the Work Environment”, we invite you to submit original articles, reviews, and short communications that advance knowledge in the following areas:

• Innovations in smart Personal Protective Equipment (PPE);
• Integration of IoT and smart materials to create safer, more ergonomic workspaces across various settings, highlighting the contributions of Industry 4.0/5.0;
• Applications of AR/MR/VR/XR in occupational safety training;
• Implementation of cyber-physical systems to monitor health risks and ergonomics, with the aim of preventing injuries and improving workplace safety;
• Use of wearables for real-time monitoring of health and environmental conditions, facilitating immediate interventions at work;
• Development of innovative materials for safer work equipment, including self-healing and environmentally responsive properties, among others;
• Leveraging IoT for data-driven improvements in workplace safety policies and practices;
• Applying smart automation and data analysis to enhance ergonomic conditions and reduce physical strain in the workplace;
• Other related topics.

Dr. Anna Dąbrowska
Dr. Małgorzata Okrasa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• occupational safety and health
• smart personal protective equipment
• smart working environment
• internet of things
• cyber-physical system
• Industry 4.0/Industry 5.0
• wearables
• smart materials
• AR/MR/VR/XR