Virtual technology brings real safety benefits

The most obvious safety features of a lift truck are physical features of the truck, like its horn, lights, or even how its cab, mast and seating are designed to maximize visibility. Few of us think of something digital like virtual reality (VR) technology as having a safety benefit.

However, some lift truck providers are using VR as the basis for VR training systems and software modules that a DC can leverage to improve the safety habits of operators. VR education can help onboard new operators quickly, though it also may be used to correct bad habits or ensure operators with incidents get extra training specific to the incident, says Jack Kaumo, director of iWarehouse Technology Solutions for The Raymond Corp.

VR education for lift trucks is more than a set of static video lessons. It uses VR goggles that can detect where the person undergoing the training is looking, and it can connect right into the control system of an actual lift truck, so the operators are engaging real truck controls for the VR session. In short, it’s a virtual environment that replicates the physical world of the warehouse, with a digital record of what was done right (or wrong) during each session.

“It feels like you are in the actual environment,” says Kaumo. “When you press forward to make a truck move forward in VR, it’s going to travel at the exact same speed you would be going if you were actually driving the truck, and the instructor can see the speed on the display of the truck. Or, if you don’t look both ways at an intersection, the VR system is going to detect that and record it.”

To use the solution, users can simply plug the VR gear into the computer control panel of an actual truck, though Raymond also offers something called a VR “buck” that has the frame of a vehicle and control handles, but not the rest of a working vehicle. This is a good option for DCs that want to keep all their lift trucks free for operations, or wish to set up a VR buck in a conference room or break room for training.

With Raymond’s VR Trainer and other technology solutions such as telematics, the DC operation is assigned a professional services manager to help supervisors figure out how to best leverage the solution. This resource can help managers decide which VR education modules would be good to use with their operators to improve safety. In one case, adds Kaumo, a user wanted special VR education on how to lift heavy rolls of material with an attachment, so Raymond got that feedback from the services manager and developed a VR module specifically for that need.

Lift truck telematics also bring a safety benefit, in that all safety incidents or unsafe practices like excessive speeds are detected immediately. Telematics also provides for digital access control, so workers can’t badge into and operate lift trucks they aren’t qualified to operate.

In practice, says Kaumo, many customers who have telematics also tend to use VR, so the two technologies work together to improve safety. If there is an incident in the real world, that operator can be assigned some VR education on the exact same issue. In fact, for VR sessions at operations that have telematics, the first “virtual” thing to do in a session is conduct the safety checklist with telematics.

Last, but perhaps not least, if a DC operation struggles with turnover, VR education can be a way to appeal to younger, tech savvy people. “For many people entering the workforce who like gaming and virtual reality at home, being able to learn how to do their jobs in that same type of environment is going to appeal to them,” says Kaumo. “It’s been a selling point for VR education for some of our customers.”