After months of planning, development and testing, the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association (SCSA) is proud to announce that the Hazard Identification (ID) virtual reality (VR) training tool developed in partnership with White Rabbit VR, a division of Twisted Pair Productions, is being made available to member companies through demonstrations and in the classroom. SCSA members and students now have the opportunity to be enveloped in a realistic, 360 degree alternate reality for workplace training. This training tool allows users to spot hazards more effectively and in a variety of scenarios that wouldn’t be as readily available within the confines of traditional classroom training. The Hazard ID VR is one of the first of its kind for the Saskatchewan construction industry.
“This changes the game for us in so far as building stronger impressions in learning. It gives the user experience in navigating dangerous situations and understanding safety management in a safe way. We are particularly excited about the implications of this technology for young and new workers. The sad reality is that 25% of the injury claims in our industry, involve a young worker under the age of 25 and the SCSA has a key role to play in supporting business owners and leaders in their injury prevention efforts for this demographic,” explains, Collin Pullar, president of the SCSA.
Through the use of technology, modernizing product and service delivery has been a major strategic focus of the SCSA over the last year. A new mobile Hazard Assessment Tool and ten additional safety topics were added to the already popular SCSA’s Guide to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Legislation mobile app, which has tracked more than 4,000 user downloads since its launch in September of 2017. Inside the SCSA classrooms, projects introducing tablet devices and virtual reality (VR) training tools are taking the delivery of safety training and information retention to a whole new level.
“The secret of the success of Hazard ID VR has been the partnership business model between White Rabbit VR and SCSA. We know virtual reality. SCSA knows safety. Together, we’ve created a marketable, state-of-the-art training tool that will help improve safety training, not only for SCSA, but for construction companies and training institutions across Saskatchewan and Canada,” said Mike MacNaughton, president and CEO of Twisted Pair/White Rabbit VR.
“We believe that the vast majority of injuries are preventable but we have learned over the years that telling people how to stay safe isn’t enough to overhaul a culture that has historically struggled with safety. Anything that is going to affect a change in an organization and a province has to be done at the leadership level. Our mission, Constructing Safety Leadership, is entirely about supporting leaders and the Hazard ID VR tool is just one of several technological investments that enables us to do that,” says Pullar.
About the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association
The Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association (SCSA) is an industry-funded, membership-based, non-profit organization that provides cost-effective, accessible safety training and advice to employers and employees in the construction industry throughout the province to reduce the human and financial losses associated with injuries. Registered March 22, 1995 the SCSA is, and has been since inception, committed to injury prevention. Serving almost 10,000 member companies, the major business units of the association are Advisory Services, Business Development, Corporate Services, Program Services and Training Services. The mission of the SCSA is constructing safety leadership and the vision is to create the safest construction environment in Canada. For more information visit, scsaonline.ca
