A pioneering digital simulation programme has been developed by Atos in collaboration with its Dutch partner IJsfontein to promote safety in the workplace.
The scenario based ‘Life Savers Game’ looks to digitally transform the way safety training is delivered in organisation by putting employees through live examples relevant to their job sector.
The Netherlands has taken the lead with the scenario-based simulations to promote safety at the workplace. ProRail, the company responsible for the maintenance of the Dutch railways, has already implemented the system using examples including a rail track maintenance worker narrowly escaping a serious incident at work.
The Life Savers Simulation focuses on raising employee safety awareness and creating insights for businesses and organisations to help implement meaningful changes. By running through scenarios that are based on real incidents, employees learn how they can intervene on crucial moments in order to prevent accidents.
The simulation uses intelligent deployment of digital tools, such as an application for reporting incidents, the use of big data analytics and traditional interventions, as well as training around the perception of safety concerns.
Robert Oosterhof, Director of the railAlert Foundation and former manager Building Management at ProRail said, “ProRail wants to ensure safety without any accidents for people who work near the railways. The safety of our track workers and other employees is our highest priority. At the same time, it is crucial that our own employees are aware of the importance of our safety guidelines.
“The railAlert Foundation aims to ensure that no deadly accidents resulting in long-lasting absence occur during works on the railway infrastructure. The Life Savers Simulation illustrates that accidents mostly have different causes and that this should be at the forefront of workers’ minds during the whole process, from design to delivery. The awareness of safety dilemmas increases after employees have undertaken the simulations and they know better how they can be more vigilant towards matters like these.”
This programme can also be adapted and personalised for a range of customer sectors and countries.
The use of digital technology to improve the safety and efficiency of public services such as transport links is incorporated in Atos’ recently published “Digital Vision for London” research paper. The report suggests that there is potential to enhance our experiences through predictive real-time mobility, cyber-secure services, personalised visualisation dashboards and much more, realising the ‘value for data’. The use of simulation technology like this can help achieve these aims.
Bas Stroeken, Executive Consultant at Atos Consulting, said, “The implementation of improvements based on rules, guidelines and procedures is often counterproductive. What is needed, is encouraging a collective sense of responsibility and these simulations can help to achieve this. People can experience how they can act and respond in a specific situation.
“With the Life Savers Simulation we have developed an innovative, interactive application that can be used to imitate scenarios concerning safety at the workplace, as well as to enhance awareness about other themes, such as cyber security, quality management and integrity with the use of gaming elements.”
Since the launch, over 1,250 individuals have participated in the simulations, with seven out of 10 employees stating they are more aware of the importance of tackling safety issues and 65 percent saying they have been encouraged to be more vigilant towards possible risks.
