Improving Safety Culture Through Virtual Reality: Feedback from Cummins

How can you tangibly strengthen the Health & Safety culture at work and ensure safe behaviors are adopted on the ground? Perrine Darbouret, HSE Coordinator at Cummins Drivetrain and Braking Systems, shares her feedback after using SafetyBox VR© for a year ; a tool deployed specifically to address the risks associated with forklift–pedestrian coactivity.

Here is her full testimony:

"As part of strengthening our Health & Safety culture, we used virtual reality headsets for a year to raise our teams' awareness of risks, particularly those related to forklift–pedestrian coactivity.

The immersive and gamified approach greatly facilitated the understanding of hazardous situations and the adoption of safe behaviors, sparking immediate engagement from employees. After a launch day with a trainer, monthly thematic sessions were organized, allowing us to adapt the content to field needs.

The SafetyBox VR© significantly contributed to improving our safety culture. We highly recommend its use in any prevention approach seeking to combine impact and innovation."

Key Pillars of This Successful Deployment

The success of this initiative at Cummins relies on three specific pillars, directly drawn from field experience:

• The impact of the immersive format: The playful and immersive nature of virtual reality secured immediate buy-in from employees. It facilitated a direct understanding of hazardous situations.
• A progressive and supported approach: The initiative kicked off with a launch day led by a trainer, ensuring proper handling of the tool.
• Regular and tailored follow-up: Organizing monthly thematic sessions helped sustain prevention efforts over time and kept them closely aligned with actual field needs.

Conclusion

By integrating SafetyBox VR©, Cummins Drivetrain and Braking Systems demonstrates that it is possible to effectively combine impact and innovation. This year-long initiative actively and significantly contributed to advancing their overall safety culture.