Prolonged exposure to high ambient temperatures, heat stress, and inadequate mitigation measures increases the health and safety risks of construction workers. Following the PRISMA guidelines, our goal was to synthesize recent evidence on the impacts of ambient heat stress on construction workers. A literature review of articles published between 2019 and 2024 was conducted, selecting 42 out of 883 articles that focused on occupational heat stress, extreme ambient temperatures, and their effects on the health, safety, and injury risks of construction workers. The findings highlighted a relationship between occupational heat exposure, increased injury, illness, and mortality among construction workers. Elevated ambient temperatures, during summer and peak work hours, significantly increased the risk of falls, cardiovascular events, and thermal discomfort. Younger, unacclimatized workers in regions with extreme ambient heat and a lack of regulation, observation, and regulation enforcement were at risk. Evidence revealed gaps in worker training, compliance, enforcement, and the integration of individualized monitoring. This review highlights the increasing risks associated with occupational heat exposure in construction workers, driven by rising ambient temperatures. It emphasizes the need for integrated strategies combining personalized wearable technologies, inclusive training, and regulatory reform to improve worker safety and productivity and promote policy development.

Post-disaster responders and workers operate in hazardous environments that require rapid decision-making, hazard recognition, and effective safety training. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged in recent years as an innovative tool for immersive occupational safety and health education. This scoping review systematically examines peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025 on the use of VR for safety training among personnels across a broad range of fields who perform or are trained to perform disaster and emergency response functions. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, five electronic databases (PubMed, ProQuest Central, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and ERIC) were searched, resulting in 2,202 identified articles; 19 of which met the inclusion criteria after screening and eligibility assessments. The reviewed studies suggest that VR-based safety training, which uses fully immersive simulated environments, can improve learner engagement, situational awareness, hazard recognition, decision-making, and confidence in disaster response scenarios. Several studies have reported higher user satisfaction and increased realism compared with traditional instructional methods such as classroom-based instruction or mock drills. However, the evidence remains heterogeneous, with limitations including small sample sizes, technical challenges, limited scenario diversity, and insufficient long-term evaluation of training outcomes. Overall, VR is a promising supplement to traditional safety and health training for post-disaster responders and workers; however, additional longitudinal research and large-scale studies are needed to further evaluate its effectiveness and long-term applicability in various disaster-response settings.