by Emily Newton
Thorough training is essential for workplace safety. Many accidents stem from avoidable mistakes, yet safety onboarding processes are often inefficient or unreliable. Virtual reality (VR) safety training could improve things.
VR itself isn’t necessarily new, though most of its usage has been in consumer entertainment. Now, industrial use cases for this technology are becoming more common. As that trend has evolved, the potential for virtual reality training has become increasingly clear. Here’s a deeper look at this technology and how it could transform the future of workplace safety.
What Is Virtual Reality Training?
At its most basic, virtual reality training is the practice of using VR technology to add another dimension to employee onboarding or ongoing development. As straightforward as that seems, these tech-centric education programs can take several forms.
Some businesses may use VR headsets to immerse workers in virtual replicas of their real-world facilities to replace on-the-job training. Others use it as an addition to conventional onboarding instead of a replacement. They may create environments focusing on specific processes or use VR to visualize some scenarios to provide extra insight on top of recruits’ normal classroom or on-the-floor experiences.
In some industries, VR safety training is already standard. Many airlines require pilots to undergo simulation training every six to 12 months to keep them ready for extreme situations. These simulators are far more complex than VR headsets, but the core concept is the same.
Benefits of VR Safety Training
Applying VR in safety training has several key advantages, whatever it may look like. Despite being a relatively new practice in most sectors, many are already benefiting from this technology.
Fewer Accidents
One of the biggest benefits of VR safety training is it can teach employees how to handle dangerous situations without actually being in one. These experiences look and feel like the real world, offering hands-on education without the physical risks of learning on the job.
Learning through experience is excellent for knowledge retention, but taking on some workflows before you have those skills can be risky. Using carbide saws on a machine meant for high-speed steel, for example, could damage the blade, leading to chips or debris that could injure workers. Experiencing these situations in VR first would give that kind of firsthand knowledge before material risks endanger employees.
This advantage is particularly helpful when training workers for unlikely but highly dangerous situations. That’s why simulation training is typical for pilots, who must know how to fly through hazards. Manufacturing professionals working with heavy machinery or hazardous materials see similar benefits.
Faster Onboarding
In addition to being safer than real-world experiences, VR safety training is more effective than classroom-based alternatives. Many people are visual learners and learning by doing tends to be even more effective. Consequently, learning through immersive, interactive VR environments can help employees train more efficiently.
One study by PWC found VR learners completed training courses four times faster than those in classroom environments. Similarly, 40% of them came away with more confidence in their training than classroom learners. That efficiency and knowledge retention boost made VR training 52% less expensive on a scale of 3,000 trainees.
Onboarding typically takes a long time — a resource many manufacturers don’t have in excess. Because VR experiences boost retention, they let new hires get up to speed faster, helping manufacturers overcome many of the challenges of hiring and upscaling.
Increased Productivity
Faster onboarding timelines, in turn, lead to higher productivity standards. VR safety training’s efficiency benefits also go beyond the productivity of the new hires themselves. This technology helps the entire workforce produce more despite the disruption of introducing new employees.
Some early adopters of augmented reality (AR) — a similar concept to VR — saw it reduce trainees’ reliance on trainers, removing the need for mentors to be physically present. Consequently, experienced employees can keep working at their normal pace while recruits still get hands-on experience through VR.
This balance offers a cost-effective middle ground between ensuring trainee safety and minimizing the impact on veteran workers’ productivity. VR-equipped workers may still need some insight from mentors, but they won’t require ongoing supervision. That — combined with the fact that VR training is inherently more efficient — means growing the workforce doesn’t slow things down as much.
Implementing VR Safety Training Safely
Like any technology, VR does have some downsides manufacturers should be aware of before implementing it. Some of these are directly safety-related, too. Most notably, somewhere between 22 and 80% of VR users report feeling motion sickness while using it, depending on the intensity of the experience.
Manufacturers can address that risk by limiting VR time. Fully immersive experiences should last 20 minutes at most and ideally stay within the 5- to 10-minute range. Another possible solution is to use AR instead. It retains a view of the real world in addition to virtual elements, so it may be less likely to produce a discrepancy between seen and felt motion.
Stationary VR experiences are also ideal. Employees may run into objects if they move around while using VR headsets, as they can’t see the real world. In instances where trainees must move, AR may be better than full VR.
It’s also worth noting that as realistic as VR can be, it still feels different from the real world. Consequently, it’s most effective as a precursor or addition to hands-on training, not a one-for-one replacement.
Some manufacturers may worry about this technology’s costs, too. Headset prices range from around $500 to above $3,000, so large facilities may be unable to afford many of them. However, because technologies can reduce onboarding costs, they may pay for themselves over time if manufacturers start small and slowly add more headsets to their inventory.
Virtual Reality Training Could Transform Workplace Safety
VR safety training isn’t a perfect solution, but its early benefits are promising. As this technology improves and more best practices emerge from continued use, it could transform onboarding processes for the better.
Learning what virtual reality training is and how it improves workplace safety is the first step in capitalizing on this potential. While careful implementation is necessary, manufacturers can see substantial safety and efficiency gains from this technology.
