Virtual Reality is a fun and immersive technology, and its benefits are unparalleled in the world of construction safety training. As VR training solutions gain popularity in several industries, in construction, enterprises are jumping at the opportunity as a way of protecting employees and equipment. This year, the release of TrainBeyond peaked the interest of hundreds of construction enterprises, who realized the value of Virtual Reality Training for a safer and more secure workplace.
How TrainBeyond Mitigates Construction Safety Risks
The most common culprits behind workplace accidents are falls, being hit by objects, electrocution, and getting caught between objects – known as the ‘fatal four’ in construction. These are usually caused by human error. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) notes that if these were eliminated, 602 construction workers’ lives would be saved every year.
As a response to these horrific statistics, TrainBeyond envisioned and created a virtual reality construction solution where employees can interact with their environments; learning about cranes, scaffolding, rigging, and handling equipment before they’re exposed to on-site risks; and pushing the notion of VR far beyond the limits of gaming.
As TrainBeyond users move through the software’s training modules, they have the freedom to make mistakes– and learn from them. Employees can operate day-to-day equipment and undergo emergency drills as many times as needed to get it right, navigating freely in virtual space with real-time events and training scenarios. Practicing new skills in this virtual environment predisposes employees to examine safety approaches by seeing, hearing, and touching objects and equipment; promoting exponential learning in complex situation recognition and treatment.
360° Views for Safe Equipment Handling
VR training solutions for construction offer unique advantages for very specific problems. One of these benefits is 360° views that cover blind spots, where the risk of accidents is often most imminent. Skid steer loaders, for example, have significant blind spots behind the operator’s cab, because the rear unit blocks the view of what’s directly behind it. The wheel loader’s cab is high off the ground, and a worker’s view to the front and sides is restricted by the steel structure’s posts. Because TrainBeyond offers a walk-around feature to examine the full view of a loader, blind spots can be defined and managed both in and out of loading equipment.
Practicing and Testing Fire Safety
VR training softwares like TrainBeyond offer remote fire safety training, facilitating the practice of protocols to be carried out during an emergency, especially if workers are stationed on high platforms. Does your team know how many fire classes there are, and how to put them out? In the Fire Training module, they will access learning material based on the latest OSHA, API, and ISO standards.
But how can managers evaluate their staff’s learning retention and response to a real emergency situation? This Virtual Reality training solution comes integrated with a cloud-based synchronized reporting site, where your team’s progress, training time, and test scores are automatically updated.
The most important metric to measure the success of a training program is its effectiveness, but pen-and-paper tests are an outdated way to evaluate the application of employee learning. In comparison, TrainBeyond’s VR training software evaluations are holistic: they measure not only answers to theory-based questions (i.e, “What class of fire deals with electrical equipment?”), but also the correct following of protocols (i.e, “In the case of a fire, should a person first alert the rest of the construction site or try to put it out him/herself?”). Furthermore, by getting insights on how much time your construction workers have spent practicing, and how they have interacted with the training materials, your construction company can strategically plan the maximum exploitation of time and this technology’s tools. Although fire safety and other training is transversal for all construction workers, there are specific roles which benefit even more from VR training. For instance, employers are required by OSHA guidelines to evaluate their crane operators. With TrainBeyond, they can be evaluated in a remotely-accessed 3D crane simulation, avoiding the risk and costs of on-site training.
The Virtual Reality Effect
Whereas immersive experiences and learning retention are complex to quantify, the numbers don’t lie: virtual reality training solutions prove cost-effective for enterprises at any scale. Construction companies willing to take advantage of this avant-garde technology see immediate cost reductions in training instructors, transport, accommodation, and– most importantly– the time that could otherwise be spent working.
The most remarkable benefit for your construction business is that, by implementing immersive training scenarios to your HSE safety programs, the well-preparedness of your construction workers will reduce accidents, diminishing worker compensation payments, and ultimately save lives.
In Conclusion…
With so much at stake to protect a construction site’s liability, A Virtual Reality training solution for construction is an investment worth investigating. Easily accessible and repeatable immersive scenarios lower the risk of avoidable mistakes, damages, fines, and lives lost. That’s why integrating TrainBeyond to your safety training programs secures your resources’ safety, while also saving money.
Interested in a Construction VR Safety Training solution with TrainBeyond? Contact us here