VR in Construction safety management and Workers training

Construction sites are considered as one of the most hazardous workplaces due to their risk of nature and a high degree of uncertainties. Based on this fact, safety on construction sites need to be the priority to each participant in the construction project.

in 2017, 20 % of all fatal workplace accidents in the 28 countries EU happened in the construction sites (Eurostat, 2017). VR technologies provide many windows for train-ing, monitortrain-ing, and controlling safety management in the construction sector. The construction industry is a dynamic and complex environment where high accident rates lead to time delays and cost overruns. In the construction sector, VR technologies may play a significant role in providing safety training, awareness, and open learning plat-form for safety management (Ahmed, 2019).

Construction companies are looking to VR to reduce the number of preventable acci-dents and add a new aspect to the training concept in construction safety. It has the potential to add value to the area of construction operations and long term saving of lives. Full operations can be trained in intensive real life, heavy machinery drills using all high-fidelity computer models. The advantage of 3D simulation and VR in the con-struction project is the safety of the training process. Using these models introduces a set of benefits when it comes to training for workers in safety. VR can recreate and simulate complex situations and provide dynamic scenarios and procedures, allowing construction workers to experience different scenarios in the virtual world in a risk-free environment (ANTYCIP, 2020).

4.3.1. Benefits of VR training in construction

The availability of technical and educational services enables the user to get the full experience of the project in real life. VR in construction safety training offers several significant advantages.

• Prevent real-life dangers and accidents: traditional training methods face the obstacle to transferring the knowledge to real-life scenarios. In the case of VR, the construction company can create and simulate realistic scenarios in a virtual envi-ronment, such as crowded streets, tight construction site. It also considers any outdoor conflict such as bad weather, breakages, and pedestrians, so trainees are experiencing everything that could face in the construction site. The multi-user

capabilities also help to optimize teamwork performance by coordinating with other workers. It provides interactivity and efficiency amongst users, especially in a site with the highest using construction equipment and tools.

• Reduction in training cost and higher retention: VR technologies enable train-ees or people who may not have any previous experience in the construction site to retain their training. They can learn in a safe environment, secured supervision, and without any knowledge obstacles. In virtual site-based activities, the trainee can gain the required knowledge and be able to do tasks safely. It can reduce the reduced safety training costs and keep unqualified trainees away from certain ar-eas (hazardous area) until gain the required qualification to join the team. The vir-tual training method is easy and quick to track and settle all the process require-ments in one place. The virtual training is repeatable work without additional cost and risk.

• Emergency procedure preparation: a critical safety aspect that can be en-hanced by VR is the need to train staff and project managers for any emergency operations, fire, and natural hazards like earthquakes to be carried out. The im-mersive training method can simulate how a person interacts with protective equipment functions and how to use it in emergencies. Without risks, it is compli-cated to carry out this process in a real-life environment. Virtual reality training helps the operators show and prove their skills under pressure and get a clear idea of what to do in a high-risk situation. Performing emergency scenarios in real-time allows all workers to know what need to do in emergencies increasingly.

• Better performance: with difficulty levels and choices, complex projects and training problems can be simplified, easing the minds of both trainer and trainee.

Training in a dangerous environment is not desirable. Managing the nerves in a supervised and comfortable atmosphere ensures that trainee can do their best and concentrate on the task. The immersive nature of VR technologies also en-sures that the training process is not limited. The traditional training is filled with obstacles. The virtual environment shuts out the world and helps the workers to collect all the required information without worry about surrounding elements.

4.3.2. Skanska & OutHere safety training (case study)

The Swedish construction company Skanska has a strategic goal to provide a safe work environment for the construction workers. Skanska was collaborating with a spe-cialized agency for virtual reality services OutHere as an external service provider. The whole study bases on surveys from Skanska construction site and its employees.

Description

Construction site workers are facing hazardous situations daily, performing safety train-ing help to eliminate dangers and risks from time to time. Written regulations and rec-orded videos made a good impact in the past to fill this gap. The integration of ad-vanced technology in construction like VR helps workers to experience the real-world and get a better perception of consequences from carelessness.

Table 4. Skanska safety training main information (Outhere, 2020) Object Different exercise in a construction site in Sweden Studying area Safety training for construction workers

VR-Developer OutHere, Gothenburg, Sweden VR-Developer Skanska, Sweden

Year 2018

Field Construction Building Trainees Construction workers Purpose Safety enhancement Showroom virtual

Role of observer assessment

Equipment HTC Vive

Game engine Unity 3D

Source Unity3D, OutHere, Skanska

Figure 30. Process map of Skanska safety training

Objectives

The main goal is to upgrade the worker's safety awareness from already construction sites cases with different situations. Also, improve communication and interactivity be-tween workers. Workers should be able to take a critical decision in a risky situation, which has a side effect on the productivity rate.

Differences

Unlike other training programs, workers are asked to make decisions in conditions that may be dangerous. The earnestness and agility are far more reliable than any other concept. In many iterative step’s prototypes are rested for accuracy and realism with the assistance of the affected workers. The produced models are interactive and re-spond to the worker's decision. It is considered an extraordinary development com-pared to other showcases.

Figure 31. Safety training simulation in Skanska construction site (Outhere, 2020)

Figure 32: Using the VR training to simulate the complicated situation to decide the optimal scenario for execution on-site (Unity, 2020).

Benefits and outcomes

• Increase the worker's awareness of crucial hazardous situations by experience them in the virtual environment

• Provide more secured workplace with fewer accidents

• Safe worksites increase worker productivity.