Picture this: It’s a normal day at the steel mill. Dave is up in the cab of the mill's overhead bridge crane. His task is to lift a vat of hot molten steel and set it down on a pedestal on the other side of the mill. While he is doing so, he accidentally bumps his load into an unseen object, spilling the contents. Now, hot molten steel is spilling all over the ground and people are running for their lives...
Dave's vision goes red as sirens are blaring. A message flashes before his eyes: Scenario Failed. A voice comes over his intercom and says, “I don’t have words for how devastating that could have been in the real world. You didn't pay attention to your signalperson...” Dripping in sweat, Dave takes off his headset. he may have been in a training session via virtual reality (VR) simulation, but the stress was real.
For years, trainers in heavy industry have faced this difficult trade-off: How can you adequately prepare employees to handle extremely dangerous and sensitive tasks without putting them and others at risk? One can provide their employees with learning opportunities in the form of reference books and hands-on classes, but these traditional options are not always ideal for unique environments and can put employees in highly complex situations without the proper context they need to be successful. The employer also has the option to introduce their new employees to these situations in live training, but this can be extremely costly and potentially hazardous to the environment, equipment, and other employees sharing the space. For many jobs and situations, training has offered an unappealing choice between easy but ineffective, or effective but expensive and risky.
VR can offer employers a third option: a training strategy that breaks through the traditional training trade-off, and provides effective training in a safe, cost-effective and controlled environment. VR offers measurable improvement in a wide array of immersive learning situations applicable across the heavy industry spectrum; from knocking a building down with a wrecking ball, to transferring pipe from one side of the job site to another, to handling dangerous chemicals.
Still not convinced that VR would be a giant leap in the right direction for your team's training program? Here are five costly slip-ups that can be avoided with a training plan that includes VR simulator training:
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Practice emergency/hazard simulations safely
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Don’t waste valuable time with course/situational set up
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Avoid damage to production equipment
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The opportunity to learn from mistakes, without injury or monetary setbacks
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Allow your operators to gain valuable experience and practice before executing
Convinced yet? Click here to build and price the perfect VR Training Station for your team!
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