Reconstruction of Near Misses and Accidents for Analyses from Virtual Reality Usability Study

Working with mobile machinery often results in near misses and accidents. Accident investigation, however, remains challenging because it requires retrospective analysis based on incomplete information and limited access to course of event information in the past. The evaluation of a virtual reality (VR) usability study on additional safety measures resulted in collisions of the driver and the mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) with objects in the environment. Collisions were similar to those in reality. Post-hoc VR simulation of the VR usability study provided insights in the course of events by identification and reconstruction of near misses and accidents and by investigation of work system configurations, movements of the drivers and controls as well as MEWP movements in the work environment. Simulations of events from the VR study are advantageous for observations of virtual near misses and accidents. Observations from variable locations and viewing angles disclose potential impairments of human information processing through systems design during human-system interaction. Use of VR for accident investigations facilitate new insights into cause of events and thereby provide new perspectives for the development of measures of hazard and risk reduction.