Leveraging virtual reality to enhance laboratory safety and security inspection training

Abstract Laboratory inspection is an essential component of a comprehensive laboratory safety and security programme. Periodic inspections play a three-pronged approach that minimises the risks, ensures that the laboratories comply with the local regulations, and raises safety and security awareness across the different faculties. However, the current training methodology for laboratory inspection is on the job and may be time-consuming and disruptive to the researchers. The Safety and Health (SH) trainers will need to borrow laboratory space to plant the hazards for every training. Herein, we employed WebVR software, namely Uptale, to design an immersive virtual reality (VR) laboratory inspection training module. With the use of immersive VR technology, SH trainees can have a realistic view of the laboratory, participate remotely, learn and refresh at their own time and pace. SH trainees were first tasked to conduct a VR laboratory inspection to identify and understand the different risks, such as chemical safety and security, present in the laboratory. The SH trainees would then have to complete a quiz and survey to validate the effectiveness of the VR training. With the VR laboratory inspection training module showing success of transiting from in-person on-the-job-training directly to VR, other safety training modules, such as chemical safety, may be transformed from PowerPoint slides to immersive VR.