Construction workers, particularly recent hires, are particularly susceptible to workplace hazards, leading safety managers to wonder what else should they be doing to keep their employees out of harm's way? One answer, says Josh Schmitz, safety manager of CG Schmidt Inc., a Wisconsin-based construction firm, is to use technology that can simulate the types of hazards a worker might encounter, without having to actually experience the dangers. He described his experiences with virtual reality to attendees of last fall's Safety Leadership Conference 2020.
Using virtual reality technology for training purposes, Schmitz is able to learn what types of safety hazards his employees most often miss, which helps guide future training. What's more, Schmitz and his development team are able to continually revise and update the simulations to help keep employees safe in any environment.
“As safety professionals, part of our job is to grow the knowledge base and awareness of those we work with,” Schmitz says. “Training never stops. Being able to walk through a building before a shovel even goes into the ground can not only show the team what they are going to be building, it can also identify hazards before they are true hazards. The team can then identify ways to eliminate the hazard or put controls in place to keep people safe. It is not me making those decisions; it is the team knowing what needs to be done and taking ownership to ensure a successful project.”
Click on the video below to watch Schmitz's full presentation on “Using Virtual Reality To Build Hazard Awareness.”