The use of Virtual Reality technology in employee safety and health training. A case study of an enterprise from the smelting industry

Abstract

Improving results in the safety and health management of employees performing particularly hazardous work (e.g. in the smelting industry) depends mainly on effectively conducted occupational safety and health training. To prevent accidents at work and occupational diseases, existing solutions in this area should be complemented or replaced with innovative ones. Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers excellent opportunities in this area. This article is both theoretical and empirical in nature. It aims to present (1) the potential of VR in occupational safety and health (OSH) training from the theoretical perspective and (2) practical solutions for using VR in OSH training in the particular case of a smelting industry enterprise. For the purposes of the article, an analysis of the literature on the subject and a descriptive case study were used. The literature on the subject provides evidence that VR can be successfully used in occupational safety and health training. The analysed company is in the phase of testing VR technology in on-thejob training for particularly hazardous work. Initial reports from the project are promising. The authors recommend actions to eliminate/limit the identified implementation weaknesses. They also hope that the article will encourage safety and health managers to be interested in the issues discussed and facilitate the design and implementation of more effective occupational safety and health training.