HUMAN ROBOT COLLABORATION AND AI-ENABLED WAREHOUSE SAFETY MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE LOGISTICS OPERATIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Robotic warehousing offers opportunities to reduce hazardous manual transport while introducing new risks at shared workstations, aisle intersections and digitally coordinated handovers. This critical integrative review evaluates how human–robot collaboration and artificial intelligence can support safer, more sustainable logistics operations, with Saudi Arabia as the proposed implementation context. Thirty DOI - indexed publications dated 2020 – 2025 were purposively examined across operational research, ergonomics, robotics, occupational safety and logistics management. Evidence was organised around exposure pathways, collaborative task allocation, predictive sensing, safety assurance, workforce acceptance and organisational governance. The synthesis shows that robotics may reduce walking and handling demands, but operational benefits cannot be equated with verified injury reduction. Adaptive speed control, transparent intention signalling, fatigue - aware scheduling and human - centred training appear promising when embedded within independently validated safeguards. Conversely, sensor uncertainty, deadline pressure, opaque algorithmic decisions and fragmented system ownership may transfer rather than remove risk.