5-13. Innovating Safety Education and Training Programs with VR/AR

In a company's EHS (Environment, Health, and Safety) activities, improving the quality of safety education and training is key to preventing workplace accidents. Traditional methods like classroom lectures, video presentations, and simulated drills are often passive for participants and have limitations in replicating real-world hazards. This is where VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) are gaining attention as they allow companies to create innovative and immersive training programs.

1. Features and Benefits of VR/AR Safety Training

With VR, you can recreate an actual factory or construction site in a virtual space, allowing employees to experience dangerous tasks or accident scenarios. This enables them to safely practice for high-altitude work, fires, or chemical leaks—risks that are difficult to reproduce in the real world. AR brings the training directly to the worksite. Using smart glasses or tablets, it can overlay work procedures and safety precautions onto the real environment, providing training that is directly relevant to the job. This helps employees gain both knowledge and a hands-on feel at the same time, which significantly improves learning retention.

2. Practical Effects on Accident Prevention

By experiencing dangers in a virtual environment, employees improve their risk awareness and become more conscious of preventing unsafe behavior. For new hires and foreign workers who have little on-site experience, VR/AR training is a crucial tool before they begin working in the field. Additionally, by experiencing the psychological stress of a dangerous task beforehand, employees may be better prepared to react calmly during a real-life emergency.

3. Key Considerations for Implementation

When implementing a VR/AR program, it is essential to design scenarios that are tailored to your company’s specific risks. For example, a chemical plant would focus on chemical leak response, while a logistics company would concentrate on safe forklift operation. The program should directly relate to the practical work of each industry. Practical considerations, such as ease of use and cost, are also important. Companies should carefully select hardware and software, and consider using the cloud for data management.

4. Future Outlook

When combined with AI, it will be possible to offer personalized training by analyzing individual learning progress and providing customized exercises. As 5G and cloud technology become more common, VR training can be conducted simultaneously at multiple remote locations, which will greatly assist global companies in strengthening their training systems.

Conclusion

VR/AR-powered safety training programs are revolutionizing traditional classroom learning by providing a practical and efficient educational approach. For companies, this technology is a powerful tool for achieving both accident prevention and a strong safety culture, and its adoption is expected to continue to grow.