Accident prevention in the retail sector with the help of virtual reality

Status:

completed 02/2024

Aims:

Technical and organizational measures for occupational safety are widely used for the prevention of trip, slip and fall accidents. Simulations employing virtual reality (VR) techniques are to be used for the prevention of potential hazards in the retail sector. The German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the trade and distribution industry (BGHW) is planning to add a VR simulation to its "BGHW-mobile" (a truck that can be requested by companies to support safety work on the topic of "tripping, slipping and falling"), to enable employees to, interactively under guidance, identify trip and slip hazards, select suitable measures and discuss their effectiveness. In the future, the virtual scenario is also to be used to address retail companies, to demonstrate potential hazards to employees and raise their awareness for safe behaviour.

Activities/Methods:

The simulator is similar in its content and functioning to the warehouse simulator developed by the BGHW in conjunction with the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), which is being used in prevention work with great success. To make the BGHW-mobile more attractive for retail businesses, an additional supermarket environment was created in VR, and typical danger hotspots were integrated to provide workers with first-hand experience and thereby draw their attention to dangers and risks and means of preventing them. In addition to providing training on the BGHW-mobile, a virtualizer was also set up in the IFA to test the scenario. A virtualizer is an omnidirectional treadmill on which employees walk or run, with their movement being directly transferred to the virtual environment in a head mounted display (HMD). This creates the most realistic experience possible.

The scenario contains two main areas. The first is the public sales area, where employees can also interact with customers. Additional disturbances have been introduced here, e.g. in the form of background music and the movements of customers through the VR space. The second main area is an internal area to which only employees have access. This includes break rooms, changing rooms and the warehouse, among other areas.

The concept for the virtual scenario and its development were closely coordinated with the BGHW.

Results:

A supermarket scenario for the BGHW-mobile was implemented successfully. Analogous to the warehouse simulator, the danger hotspots and problems that are presented, specifically mirror those that can be found in the retail sector. Besides a supermarket, additional areas (warehouse, deposit refund, office, changing rooms, WC, car park) are also implemented.

Along with new danger hotspots, additional avatars have been added to the environment. These avatars move randomly within the scenario, making it substantially more vivid and realistic.

The retail sector scenario has already been implemented and tested on the BGHW-mobile. Presentations of the VR supermarket to occupational safety experts at the BGHW’s annual conference and the BGHW Management Forum met with positive feedback.

The new environment/VR application can now be used for prevention work in retail businesses.

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