Report Webinar on Application of VR technology on Disaster Preparedness and
Response Training
The seminar was organized by the Safety Specialist Committee (SSC)
taken place at HKIE Headquarter on 28th October 2021 with more than 140 members
participated online.
Speaker Mr. Tim Yuen and his team are experienced in the use of VR
technology on safety awareness training. They have solid experience and have
assisted different parties such as Civil Engineering and Development
Department, Hong Kong Fire Service Department, Ambulance Service, Hospital
Authority and so on, in various training with the use of VR technology.
Ensuring occupational safety becomes a growing priority in the
industry today. When disaster or multi-casualty incident (MCI) happens, the
personnel should equip with the situational awareness to encounter the
emergency. The basic 4-C principle is important in the emergency response. To
allow personnel prepare for emergencies well, actions are more powerful than
words. The implementation of drills and exercises safeguards the contingencies
properly managed, ensures emergency responders familiar with the plan and
procedures as well as seeks for improvement. Though there are already various
existing trainings in the workplace and organization, challenges are addressed
in these few years. The existing trainings cannot guarantee to offer effective
training to every staff in a regular basis. The existing format shows
limitation on visualizing different situations and multiple cases to staffs.
In this case, virtual reality (VR) technology introduces a whole new
dimension to risk management by allowing company to validate decisions in an
immersive 3D virtual world before implementing them. In the webinar, a Virtual
Reality (VR) platform was introduced, and different aspects of training
objectives have been illustrated, which including some crucial cognitive skills
in the Emergency Response Training. Several examples of application have been
shared, like the use of VR headset to undergo environment assessment, the use
of simulated scenario in command and communication training. The use of VR
technology on training skills may start becoming common in some companies but
it might be new in situational awareness and cognitive training. Tim's team
shared the experience in Coventry University in the United Kingdom, showing how
they integrate the VR platform in their training for Disaster Management and
Emergency Planning and Construction Management programmes.
On behalf of the SSC, we would like to express our sincere gratitude
to Mr. Tim Yuen and his team for leading this fruitful webinar and providing
some new insights to the industry.