Immersion in EDF's Supply Chain Division

Below, discover the testimonial of Guillaume Chaulieu, Safety Engineer at EDF's Supply Chain Division. 

What is your company's activity?

"The Supply Chain Management brings together expertise from upstream to downstream in our nuclear activities with suppliers. This involves the development of Industrial and Procurement Policies in collaboration with all EDF stakeholders, the purchasing process itself, project purchasing management, as well as industrial performance and quality.

It is a unit of 1,500 employees located across numerous office and industrial sites (nuclear power plants and supplier factories). I am responsible for risk prevention across all our activities."

Why did you choose SafetyBox VR©? How do you use it? How often?

“Our initial need was to provide a complementary solution for the recertification of electrical hazard qualifications. This recertification is normally conducted via e-learning but is also available in virtual reality thanks to a development made with another unit of EDF.

This area concerns employees working on-site, whether stationed there permanently or traveling to industrial sites.

The initial interest was to provide a more concrete and practical component to this training. This new virtual reality module is offered on a voluntary basis, particularly for employees based at the headquarters in Saint-Denis who regularly have to travel.

Today, we use it for many other activities beyond this. For example, I carry out interventions at sites, particularly focusing on confined space hazards for our teams. Whenever I visit, I bring the headset and conclude the awareness session with a practical component using virtual reality and the proposed module. While it doesn’t exactly match the situations encountered on-site, it reinforces all the necessary preventive measures by offering an additional pedagogical experience to classroom training.

Additionally, we organized a risk prevention week last October. During that week, we addressed several topics and took the opportunity to run a virtual reality workshop.

In this context, we used the headset to offer a risk-hunting exercise. This approach provided a fun aspect while also instilling a safety mindset for employees working on industrial sites.

These are the three main ways we use the virtual reality headset (Renewal of electrical certification - Local awareness sessions on confined spaces - Safety animations such as risk-hunting).

We are trying to establish local contacts within departments to further deploy other available modules, such as radiation protection, which offers an environment closely resembling what one might encounter in a nuclear power plant.”

What needs does virtual reality address for your HSE training?

"Virtual reality complements other prevention measures. It allows us to convey messages and discuss safety in a different way, adding a practical dimension for a population that is not always familiar with the industrial environment or certain risks."

Have you noticed any differences before and after using virtual reality?

“I wouldn’t say I’ve seen a direct improvement tied to the headset itself, but I do think it’s a lever for delivering messages effectively. When I visit a site to conduct confined space awareness sessions and bring the headset, employees are always curious and eager to see what they’ll do with it afterward. This helps wrap up the session while maintaining their attention, with a complementary pedagogical approach that I find highly beneficial. Beyond the intrinsic value of the content, because it reinforces all the key elements, it’s the collective use of the headset and the associated discussions that bring significant added value.”

Would you recommend SafetyBox VR©?

“We’ve received positive feedback from employees. It’s relatively easy to use, and the fact that the headset is autonomous is incredibly practical. When I take it to a site, I don’t have to worry about where I’ll set it up. So, yes, I would recommend it, while keeping in mind that it’s a tool whose deployment should be supported by the organization’s safety professionals.”