The results of a virtual reality (VR) safety simulator and gaming experience presented by Lloyd’s Register (LR) at SPE Offshore Europe suggest that more needs to be done in training and understanding the daily risks of oil rig maintenance and operation.
Lloyd’s put delegates attending SPE Offshore Europe 2017 in Aberdeen through their paces with a VR safety simulator and gaming experience.
The new VR experience received a high level of interest in the opening days of the event, when attendees experienced the VR and gaming technology that is on the cusp of reshaping how training is provided to the oil and gas industry.
The experience was being launched at the Offshore Technology Conference in May in Houston and is now at other events across the world. The technology is being used to raise an understanding of the critical nature many workers are exposed to in everyday rig operations. Lloyd’s is also using VR to provide training initiatives to support better skills training and knowledge sharing.
Users experience three key issues borne out of real-life incidents first hand through sight, sound, and touch. Users can then choose one of three multiple-choice answers for each scenario, and the gaming experience is then replayed on the answers the user selected.
The results from the user experience at SPE Offshore Europe show that more needs to be done to ensure the risks of getting decisions wrong are fully understood.
Blowout Preventer (BOP) Maintenance Incident—Just 43% of respondents at SPE Offshore Europe chose the correct answer to prevent the accident from happening. Users correctly identified an X-ray of the BOP to discover a badly fitted outlet part.
Drilling Platform Incident—Only 33% of users at Offshore Europe chose the correct answer. A window in the dog house was broken, letting rain water inside. A critical console in the dog house faulted from water ingress, causing an unplanned event on the drill floor.
Crane Lifting Operation With a Heavy Load Incident—43% of users chose the correct solution, which identified a poorly maintained lifting eye that needed to be replaced.
Based on these results, what can the industry do? Phil Edwards, director of consulting services at Lloyd’s, said, “Training and educating the industry on how to enhance operational safety and improve business performance is at the heart of LR’s business. We hope this VR experience and the results from it can become a catalyst for further industry engagement on best practice training initiatives, which produce a step-up in better, constructive, and tangible learning and training results.”