MORRISON Construction has been shortlisted for a top health and safety prize for the development of virtual reality site inductions.
The firm has been named a finalist for the Health and Safety Initiative of the Year at the Water Industry Awards 2018.
Currently being trialled, the virtual reality site inductions have been developed by Morrison Construction in partnership with the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). Users can familiarise themselves with a construction site via a virtual reality environment through the use of goggles and hand controllers.
Morrison Construction Scottish Water operations director Stephen Slessor said, “‘Health and safety is our number one priority at Morrison Construction. We believe that virtual reality can be a powerful tool to improve safety in the industry to enhance existing induction processes. Using this technology users can make mistakes and learn the consequences in a virtual reality setting.
‘‘The development of this cutting-edge learning content system is a good example of the positive impact university-industry collaborations can have to address challenges in construction.’’
Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, senior lecturer in construction engineering at UWS added, “VR application in the construction industry provides an effective means for health and safety training. It helps to raise awareness of on-site hazards and ensure compliance with HSE guidelines, thereby reducing the likelihood of on-site incidents.
‘‘This project is an exemplar of university-industry collaboration for the application of VR. We can only make a difference and change industry’s practice through truly collaborative endeavours such as this.”
Morrison will compete for the award against five other finalists from across the UK with the winner to be revealed during a ceremony in Birmingham on 21 May.
