Summary of Client’s Challenge
The USF Department of OSHA Safety Florida Program was funded by the federal government to develop an eLearning equivalent to the print-based version available on The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) website.The goal was to provide an engaging safety solution that was accessible to more students and always available to them, regardless of the time or day.
After offering a competitive proposal, Change by Design was selected to be the vendor for this project. The best approach to creating a winning solution was to develop a story around a 16-year-old young man named Carlos, working at a local fast-food restaurant. In the story, this young ‘archetype’ needed to consistently demonstrate safe behaviors at work so that he could make enough money to buy the used car he wanted, and aspirationally to win the attention of the young lady he was interested in.
OSHA “Talking Safety” As The Basis For New Florida Online Training
In all 50 states, OSHA/US Department of Labor provides a national training for adolescents called “Talking Safety” to help them learn how to stay safe in their workplaces. Change by Design used OSHA’s training as the knowledge base for this project, then developed a story-based course that would effectively change behaviors through a different mode of learning. We converted the OSHA training into equivalent versions online, but modified the approach enough to maintain engagement in an asynchronous learning environment.
Piloting The Safety Florida Program With The Target Learning Audience
After coursework development was complete, but before launch of the training state-wide, Change by Design conducted a pilot with the target audience: teens ages 14-17.
During this phase, the teens first experienced the course and responded to a post-course survey. Then they participated in one of three focus groups (divided by age ranges) where we captured qualitative perspectives that gave our findings and recommendations more depth.
Developing The Platform For Next Generation Learning
Knowing that the teenage years, for most people, are a time period of influence, affiliation, and unexpected exploration, our client sought a vehicle for pursuing the next future round of safety funding. Once the safety training was launched, USF requested a motivational game supplement that was built to spec. The idea would be that learners only advanced when the teens correctly completed the learning activities:
Correct answers helped our games’ hero, Carlos, get raises at his job; and
Ultimately those promotions helped him able to buy the car for which he was saving up his earnings.
Realistically modeling this goal setting, progression, and achievement experience was key to the game’s success. Our team developed a prototype 3D world with several sections, including:
A classroom where content was instructed via narration by a virtual ‘instructor’. This was designed to mimic a setting the learners would already have some familiarity with, compared to the workplace setting that they were just starting to explore.
A gamified ‘maze’ where learners encountered challenges that they had to overcome by providing the right answers to questions that arose. We felt that this different approach to testing knowledge would motivate the target population to complete the task.
A pseudo-burger joint, where learner avatars were able to explore different areas behind the counter and identify unsafe conditions. Examples included water hazards on the floors that would lead to employee falls. Also, staff infections in the bathroom which, when not sanitized, would lead to potential illnesses.
A gas station convenience store with its own unsafe environmental conditions. Examples included a situation where a thief enters the building and threatens characters with a baseball bat. Also, areas in the location with other hazards that learners had to explore and identify.
The USF program director was able to effectively showcase to federal funding officials their innovative approach, and request new support to expand the effort into better workplace safety for a teenage workforce. This demonstration of the performance improvements gained, through an avatar-based learning approach within a game, was a compelling and novel approach that deeply impressed the funders.
Contact Change by Design today if you need evidence-based, OSHA-proven workforce safety training for your workplace, or games for learning simulations including VR and AR components that better engage younger audiences.