Serious Labs union tie-in for training

Virtual reality training specialist Serious Labs has set up a partnership with the Alberta Construction Training Institute (ACTI) and the Building Trades of Alberta (BTA) to pilot a Mobile Elevated Work Platform (MEWP) operator certification program.

The pilot marks the first ANSI-compliant MEWP certification training program in North America that recognises assessment and certification on a VR simulator.

Six Serious Labs motion-based MEWP simulators are available in the province of Alberta at ACTI’s Ironworkers Local 720 and IBEW Local 424 union locations to train and certify construction workers. Over the next month, ACTI will complete multiple practical assessments during the MEWP training, along with practical assessment exercises for certification on both the real equipment and Serious Labs’ VR MEWP simulator.

“We are confident these VR MEWP simulators will assist the Building Trades of Alberta and its 60,000 member unionised workforce to become the most modern-trained construction workforce in the world with the goal of improving proficiency while reducing work site incidents,” said Wade Glavine, president and CEO, ACTI.

“We are excited to partner with ACTI and the BTA in support of Alberta’s tradesmen and tradeswomen through the adoption of technology and innovation,” said Wade Carson, senior director of product, Serious Labs. “It takes forward-thinking organisations like ACTI and BTA to shift the training mindset by addressing human performance through objective simulation to identify and remediate the worker’s operational gaps.”

The pilot, running through mid-October, is being used to certify and recertify operators to the ANSI 3A/3B standards. ACTI has already certified 52 operators through the pilot program which began in September.

“This is a significant milestone for Serious Labs and VR training overall,” said Jim Colvin, CEO, Serious Labs. “This program demonstrates that operators can be successfully trained and assessed to industry standards with efficiency, proficiency and safety being measured and certified on a VR simulator. Our VR solutions continue to be recognized and adopted around the world as a safe and efficient alternative to group training and assessment, particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are looking forward to making further strides in the near future as the efficacy of VR and simulators grows.”