Experimental investigation of the retention of emergency egress competence acquired in a virtual environment

Abstract

Retention of egress skills is critical during high-stress emergencies on offshore oil and gas platforms. This paper uses a virtual offshore platform to investigate the long-term retention of emergency egress competence. A two-phased empirical experiment was designed to first teach basic egress skills and subsequently assess skill retention. The first phase of the experiment used a simulation based mastery learning (SBML) pedagogical approach to teach 36 naïve subjects the necessary spatial and procedural skills to evacuate safely from an offshore platform. In the second phase of the experiment, the same participants were tested after 6 to 9 months on their ability to respond to a series of egress test scenarios. These results indicated that emergency egress skills are susceptible to skill decay. Recommendations to improve the retention of offshore egress skills are discussed.