The Brief
DNV, a global leader in risk management and safety assurance, partnered with Lumanorth, a specialist in immersive learning technologies, to developed a Virtual Reality system to provide a powerful alternative for those requiring a refresher following a course at Spadeadam or those too remote from the site to visit. The innovative training tool is an immersive learning environment allowing users to experience major hazards without leaving their office, or site.
This collaboration brings together DNV’s deep process safety expertise and real-world testing capabilities at its Spadeadam test site with Lumanorth’s strength in creating interactive 3D learning environments.
The Solution
Users can walk through scenarios representative of actual hydrocarbon release events, giving full engagement and understanding of the circumstances that led to the event and allowing reflection on the lessons learned. To enhance learning with the VR system, new scenarios can be developed for individual use representing incidents, or near-misses. Winner in the Innovation in Safety category of the 2019 OGUK Safety Awards the virtual reality system can be used on its own, or to enhance and make more memorable traditional training approaches such as:
- Hazard awareness
- Hazard identification
- Risk assessment
- Operational risk assessment
- Lessons learned from incidents
Outcome
The DNV–Lumanorth partnership demonstrates how combining technical authority with immersive technology can drive a step-change in safety training. Together, they are helping operators across the oil & gas and process industries to:
- Reduce risk through deeper, scenario-based learning
- Improve workforce preparedness
- Enhance hazard recognition and decision-making
- Deliver training with efficiency, consistency, and reach
- Deployed in several countries in 4 languages
- This is next-generation safety education, built on experience—and powered by innovation.
“The Virtual Reality system helps ensure our teams retain awareness of major hazards and guards against complacency. It places them in a realistic, virtual environment that demonstrates the significant impact that a lapse in process safety can have”.