Offer health and safety training to your employees through virtual reality

As the professional environment is constantly evolving, employees need to acquire new skills to face competition and anticipate technological advances. To adapt to new dynamics in the world of work, companies must train their employees. For this, they can use virtual reality. What are the benefits of this tool?

What is workplace health and safety training through virtual reality?

The health and safety training program is a preventative measure against occupational diseases and incidents. It must include at least the elements required by the LSST or Occupational Health and Safety Act concerning safety and health.

According to paragraph 9 of this legislation, employees must be adequately trained to ensure they possess the necessary knowledge to perform their tasks and be informed about the risks present at their workplace.

It should be noted that HSE training must be specifically designed to meet a company's needs. It must be tailored to the demands of the work environment. Virtual reality is an effective tool for implementing quality training. It simulates the workplace and helps the worker to immerse themselves in the situation. The results of training through VR are significantly better than those of traditional training.

What is the purpose of a health and safety committee?

To ensure the effectiveness of a health and safety training program, workers must be fully involved. The health and safety committee is a forum for cooperation between company leaders and workers. If the committee is not required, a worker representative can be appointed. In either case, the workers' practical knowledge, the company's general policies and procedures, and the management's vision are debated within the committee.

Therefore, the committee must:

• Comply with legislation;
• Be effective;
• Provide necessary resources to workers;
• Engage the maximum number of workers.

It should also have a suitable structure to function properly. Similarly, its meetings should be conducted in a specific manner.

Why are safe work procedures established?

Legislation imposes minimum requirements. Companies often add their rules and procedures to ensure the maximum safety of their employees. However, it is essential to find a balance between too few and too many rules. In the first case, workers might feel neglected, and in the second, they might feel micromanaged.

Principles to follow

To implement useful rules, follow these principles:

• Regulations should be established in collaboration with the health and safety committee;
• They should target specific health and safety issues in the company;
• They should be stated positively rather than negatively ("the employee must" instead of "the employee should not");
• The existence of a regulation must be justified;
• Rules must be actionable to be considered important by workers;
• They should be reviewed periodically and modified if necessary;
• They must be written in the workers' communication language. Therefore, each of them should have written access.

Compliance with regulations is now part of employment conditions. They are explained to workers when they are transferred to another position, when they start their job, or when they are in rehabilitation. After a while, it is essential to ensure they have understood what is expected of them.

What are examples of management responsibilities?

Some examples of management responsibilities include:

• Providing a safe and healthy workspace for workers;
• Implementing a health and safety program;
• Reporting occupational diseases and incident cases to the competent authorities;
• Ensuring workers are trained, educated, and certified if necessary;
• Informing employees about health and safety;
• Ensuring the health and safety program is reviewed periodically;
• Encouraging supervisors' decisions on health and safety;
• Setting up medical care and first aid facilities;
• Ensuring required changes are implemented.

What are examples of workers' responsibilities?

Workers' responsibilities include:

• Using protective equipment provided by the employer;
• Knowing and implementing best practices;
• Considering safe work methods;
• Reporting any disease or incident to the employer;
• Participating in the health and safety committee activities;
• Reporting hazardous conditions to management.

What are individual responsibilities regarding workplace health and safety?

Both management and workers are responsible for health and safety at work. Individual responsibility is defined as the obligation to perform the assigned tasks. Managers have the right to delegate decision-making power to others, such as supervisors. However, the responsibility for proper task execution always falls back on them. For the principle of individual responsibility to be correctly applied, all company actors must know what is expected of them.

What is a general policy statement?

Every company should state the general rules and principles guiding its actions concerning workplace health and safety. Management will then ensure that they are properly applied within the company.

The general health and safety policy should include:

• The program's objectives;
• Management's promise to protect workers and prevent diseases and injuries;
• Refusal to neglect workers' health and safety;
• Complete caution regarding health and safety;
• Intolerance of breaches of health and safety principles;
• People in charge of workers' safety and health programs;
• Overall responsibilities of workers and managers.

How to promote workers' participation in health and safety programs?

For workers to participate in health and safety programs, the following measures must be taken:

Organizational measures:

• Allow workers to participate in improving their work environment;
• Offer continuous training opportunities for workers;
• Propose flexible workspaces.

Individual measures:

• Promote good dietary hygiene;
• Ensure workers' mental well-being. For this, external anonymous psychosocial support can be offered;
• Propose sporting events.

Environmental measures:

• Ban smoking;
• Create social rooms;
• Establish an adapted psychosocial professional environment.

Should workplace-specific elements be included in virtual health and safety training programs?

The following elements should be included in virtual health and safety training programs:

• Safe work procedures;
• Individual responsibilities of company actors;
• Training and education;
• Emergency planning;
• The company's specific needs;
• Worker orientation;
• Specific legal requirements concerning organizational health and safety rules;
• Workplace inspections;
• Identifying, analyzing, and controlling hazards;
• Medical care and first aid.

Why is it important for your company to benefit from virtual health and safety training?

A work environment with an effective safety training program ensures better employee productivity. It also offers many benefits, including:

• Fewer productivity losses caused by injuries and diseases;
• Lower insurance premiums;
• Protection against liability lawsuits;
• Improved worker satisfaction;
• Reduced worker compensation for sick leaves.

How to evaluate the effectiveness of workplace health and safety programs?

Here are the steps to ensure the effectiveness of a workplace health and safety program:

Determine the company's needs

You need to identify your company's needs, training objectives, and potential hazards. Then, analyze past incidents and identify the issues to be addressed.

Involve employees

Employees should participate in the development, application, and improvement of the training program. 

Involve Managers

Managers and supervisors must be trained in the safety requirements of their teams. In this way, they can identify compliance issues with health and safety rules.

Conduct Tests

Consider testing employees through inspections and quizzes. These will help you understand the effectiveness of your training program.

Create Communication Channels

Integrate communication channels into training to report risks.

Immersive Factory offers virtual reality training with unique learning

Immersive Factory offers training through VR to educate your teams on safety and health. They are available on a subscription basis and guarantee an immersive experience. With the programs from Immersive Factory, your employees can put themselves in situations and improve their daily productivity. Moreover, this will help you reduce the risk of accidents within your company.