A Better Way to Train Personnel to Be Safe in Emergencies

Abstract

Offshore petroleum platforms present complex, time-sensitive situations that can make emergency evacuations difficult to manage. Virtual environments (VE) can train safety-critical tasks and help prepare personnel to respond to real-world offshore emergencies. Before industries can adopt VE training, its utility must be established to ensure the technology provides effective training. This paper presents the results of two experiments that investigated the training utility of VE training. The experiments focused particularly on determining the most appropriate method to deliver offshore emergency egress training using a virtual environment. The first experiment used lecture-based teaching (LBT). The second experiment investigated the utility of a simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) pedagogical method from the medical field to address offshore emergency egress training. Both training programs (LBT and SBML) were used to train naïve participants in basic onboard familiarization and emergency evacuation procedures. This paper discusses the training efficacy of the SBML method in this context and compares the results of the SBML experimental study to the results of the LBT training experiment. Efficacy of the training methods is measured by a combination of time spent training and performance achieved by each of the training groups. Results show that the SBML approach to VE training was more time effective and produced better performance in the emergency scenarios. SBML training can help address individual variability in competence. Limitations to the SBML training are discussed and recommendations to improve the delivery of SBML training are presented. Overall, the results indicate that employing SBML training in industry can improve human reliability during emergencies through increased competence and compliance.

Being prepared for emergencies: a virtual environment experiment on the retention and maintenance of egress skills

“…This section will briefly describe the effect size and power analysis, participants, the All-hands Virtual Emergency Response Trainer (AVERT) simulator, skill acquisition and test scenarios, and the retention assessment and retraining matrices. A detailed description of the methods used in phase I can be found in Smith and Veitch (2018). A description of the methods used in phase II can be found in Doody (2018).…”

“…The effect of interest in this experiment was the change in performance score from the skill acquisition phase to the retention phase. The effect size was calculated based on an estimated drop in performance of 15% or greater due to skill fade and was informed by previous experiments (Smith 2015;Smith and Veitch 2018). Based on the estimated minimum amount of skill degradation to be detected, the effect size calculation resulted in an effect size d = 0.6.…”

“…Virtual environment (VE) training can address weaknesses in conventional safety training and provide a way to practice emergency egress skills regularly, unconstrained by safety, logistical, or financial concerns. VEs are effective at teaching basic onboard familiarization and emergency evacuation procedures for offshore petroleum platforms (Smith and Veitch 2018). Specifically, VE training can provide assurance that all individuals have at least achieved the same minimum standard of competence.…”

“…The first phase, skill acquisition, was conducted using the simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) pedagogical framework to teach virtual offshore emergency egress training (Smith and Veitch 2018). Fifty-five novice participants participated in the skill acquisition phase of the experiment.…”

“…All participants who completed the SBML training achieved the targeted performance outcomes and demonstrated competence at the end of the program. Smith and Veitch (2018) compared the SBML approach to a benchmark training program called lecture-based teaching (LBT). The LBT training program represented the existing safety protocols used offshore for egress training (Smith 2015).…”