Nation’s Only VR Safety Training Comes To Hicksville

District staff use virtual reality tool to focus on real world safety

New York 811 and the Hicksville Water District recently held a unique high tech training program for more than a dozen staff members using state-of-the-art virtual reality technology. The program, the only one of its kind in the nation, was created by Bohemia-based New York 811. New York 811 is focused on ensuring that digging and excavation are done safely by utility companies and contractors, individuals, private excavation companies and the public. The not-for-profit manages the 811-notification center and alerts utility companies to have areas marked before projects start. The Hicksville Water District serves high-quality drinking water to more than 48,000 customers and regularly offers safety training programs to ensure that projects and repairs are done without incident.

The VR-X Training session, led by New York 811 staff, places two-man crews from the Hicksville Water District in the mobile virtual simulator at a time. While wearing VR goggles, one team member sits in a realistic model of an excavator cockpit with working controls. The second crew member, also wearing VR goggles, uses VR gloves to direct and watch the activities of the Virtual Excavator Operator. Both crew members are placed in a realistic 360-degree virtual environment that looks almost identical to real Long Island or New York City streets and neighborhoods. Both crew members take turns operating the virtual excavator and work their way through different scenarios to enhance awareness and understanding of safe digging operations. They must dig carefully and remain aware of water, power, gas and other utilities that could be damaged.

“The safety of our workers as well as residents is our most important concern. The VR simulator is realistic and allows staff to reinforce safety training and safety procedures. The VR experience provides users with a real-life experience. The excavator even shakes when the bucket makes contact with the ground. New York 811 has built technology that will help our District staff stay safe and limit accidents and costly damage to critical utilities across the region,” said Commissioner William Schuckmann of the Hicksville Water District.

“It is dangerous to dig anywhere on Long Island or New York City without knowing what is beneath the ground. It is critical and it’s the law that contractors, utility companies and the public call 811 or contact us at New York 811 so that we can have underground lines marked. It is also important that those who operate excavators and backhoes continually train and focus on safety. With our VR-X simulator technology, we are providing a new tool to reinforce training, collecting data and furthering our mission to enhance safety and prevent accidents,” said Roger Sampson, Executive Director of New York 811.

The VR-X Safety Simulator allows backhoe and excavator operators to enter a virtual world. Here, they are presented with a number of different scenarios. They work together to complete a project and evaluators provide feedback based on their performance. The goal of the simulator is to gather data that will be shared to enhance training and reduce the number of incidents that occur each year across the region. These types of programs are critical for utilities and contractors, but the public also needs to be aware of the potential dangers of unauthorized excavations.

For more information about New York 811 visit: www.newyork-811.com.

—Submitted by New York 811