Virtual reality technology offers several ways for prevention services to increase their training offer in healthy and safety:
- Offer new health and safety courses.
- Create and take over new training niches.
- Carry out and sell refresher training courses.
- Continuously growing catalogue of simulations.
Virtual reality simulations recreate realistic environments and emergency situations. By putting on the headset, the employee faces both virtually and in person the risks that he or she will encounter in the workplace.
The trainer, in turn, can enter variables in real time or set up scenarios prior to the start of the exercise. These options allow the trainer to plan and deliver a wide range of health and safety courses, and to make the workers experience the possible sensations/emotions.
Regarding the training offer, we will explain below how to make it grow using this tool.
To provide new health and safety (HSE) courses.
Virtual reality simulations allow new HSE training courses to be given. Some companies dedicated to health and safety training specialise in certain content. The difficulty or scarcity of resources to specialise in new subjects may limit their training offer.
For example, a company may specialise in providing MEWP training, as it has resources and trainers who are experts in the field. However, starting to offer courses on the prevention of different risks, such as working at heights, would entail a cost in resources and specialisation time.
Virtual reality makes it easier to overcome these barriers. By accessing simulations based on regulatory standards, the trainer can gain experience and begin to specialise in other areas. In addition, because they are simulated environments, there is a saving in facility rental.
Many virtual reality simulations have a guided mode, especially those related to a procedure. The exercise itself prompts the trainee through the steps to be followed and offers a visualisation of those steps that have not been followed. In this way, the HSE trainer can provide CPR or fire fighting training, ensuring that the trainee learns the steps of the protocol. All these options make it easier to deliver new health and safety courses, which in turn, have an impact on the training on offer.
Creating and taking over new training niches
Thanks to virtual reality, trainers can teach complex content in a playful and dynamic way. An example of this would be a simulation of Confined Spaces. The procedure before entering a confined space is complex and has several variables, which are not easy to teach in theoretical training.
The Ludus Confined Space simulation allows the employee to complete all the steps of the protocol: selection of PPE, filling in documents, and measurements... Finally, the employee accesses the interior of a virtual manhole, living a realistic experience and being able to suffer accidents.
This technology helps to dynamise training courses that are traditionally theoretical, opening up new niches. This is the case with occupational risk prevention courses on postural ergonomics. With simulation, in addition to receiving theoretical information, the employee goes through a virtual office, detecting ergonomic risks and correcting them.
The possibilities of recreating virtual scenarios and hazardous situations are very high. Hence the ease with which VR can open up new avenues in health and safety training.
Carrying out or selling refresher training
Often, a worker has to retake a risk prevention course from time to time in order to refresh his or her knowledge. This may be the case with healthcare workers and CPR training, for example, or with specific training for other jobs.
Warehouse workers may need refresher training in logistics risks. Other workers need refresher training in platform lifts and working at heights... depending on their field of work.
With virtual reality, the prevention service can include these periodic training courses in its training offer. The guided mode of some simulations allows training to be done efficiently and one at a time. Workers go through the simulation one by one and refresh their knowledge.
This makes it possible to conduct refresher training in a simple way, without the need to organise big groups specifically for this purpose. For the client company, it also saves time spent on stopping processes. As the operators are trained one at a time, there is no need to stop machinery or processes for refresher training.
The catalogue of simulations is constantly growing
The number of simulations and training content with virtual reality never stops growing. In the case of Ludus, thanks to the SaaS model, trainers have unlimited access to all current and future simulations for a single licence fee. This democratises access to virtual reality technology.
As the catalogue never stops growing, prevention services have more and more training content at their disposal. Thus, they increase their training offer, getting more and more value for the same price.