4 Reasons to use VR Safety Training

Training is a facet of companies that is long overdue for an overhaul. The most common form of training is like a lecture and is PowerPoint slide-heavy, similar to how teaching is performed in college classrooms. This style of learning hasn’t been challenged because it is viewed as a standard; not something that can evolve and be improved upon.

It is now understood that traditional methods may not be the most effective way to teach. Universities are now incorporating new types of learning in their offered courses, called “Active Learning”. Active learning is the action of engaging personally in the learning process, using various methods of interaction. It is based on the premise that most students don’t absorb information efficiently or learn while sitting through a lecture, but rather by engaging in and practicing what we are meant to learn until we understand it.

The studies show that we learn mostly through doing, but why is it that we have to begin our careers in order to learn to do our jobs?

VR is being proven as a solution for gaining job experience before ever going out into the field. Through VR, trainings are transformed into virtual simulations -- and there are plenty of benefits of bringing learning into the future.

Reason #1 - SAFETY

VR training simulations can lead to employees making fewer mistakes while on the job. This is especially important when performing hazardous work or performing work in hazardous locations.

Construction, specifically, is the number one most dangerous field in the United States. According to OSHA, 6.5 million people work on construction sites each day, and the fatal accident rate is higher for the construction industry than any other.

Standard lecture-style trainings provide awareness but are not going to lower fatalities and injuries by themselves. Engagement with immersive training in a safe, virtual environment will help reduce risky behaviors and promote the internalization of proper procedures and processes. With VR, you can go through the motions without the risk of sustaining a real injury. Instead, you can practice without the fear of failure and be prepared when the time comes.

Reason #2 - REPETITION

With VR, trainees don’t have to go through a simulation once without repeating it. Rather, they have a chance to gain muscle memory of tasks being repeated in the training along with familiarity with various processes and controls. If they don’t succeed on the first go, then the trainees can go back in and complete the training until they get it right. In training we learn by making mistakes, and there is no need for real-world consequences to these mistakes when they can be programmed virtually.

This repeated action and ability to learn from missteps helps ensure that employees feel confident before engaging in a hazardous or intense field condition. The more you can practice something, the better you are going to be at it when the time comes. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Reason #3 - CONSISTENCY

When training is programmed, it is what it is. Every time you put on a headset and complete a training it is the exact same experience. All necessary information and procedures are in place.

We currently rely on instructors to pass on pertinent and necessary information to trainees. No matter how good an instructor is at their job, there is always room for human error. An instructor may skip over some topics or not accurately convey a key piece of information. Or, after constantly teaching the same course for an extended period, they may forget what students need to know about the topics they themselves are familiar with.

In VR, the training is the training is the training, every time.

Also, the VR world does not allow for trainees to be distracted by anything. They cannot use their phones under the table of a lecture or daydream while in VR. They are completely immersed in the world being presented to them. Information is not likely to be missed when you are completely engaged in the program.

Reason #4 - RESOURCE SAVINGS

With the resources needed for VR, many costs are eliminated from what is needed for standard training sessions. To successfully perform a training scenario in VR, you simply need a headset and a space of about 8’ x 8’.

Dedicated or even rented facilities are not necessary since the training can be performed in an existing area.

There would also be less dependence on outside instructors. Anyone from the company can be trained to operate the VR headset quickly, removing the need for outside help.

In fact, the costs for VR are all a one-time fee. Making the program and buying the headset are your only costs, after that you no longer have to allocate company valuable resources to trainings.

Link citations:

‘Active Learning’: https://cei.umn.edu/active-learning

‘through doing’: https://www.ryerson.ca/career/employers/experientiallearning/

OSHA: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3252/3252.html