Industrial accidents have a devastating effect on public health in the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2002, there were nearly 5 million non-fatal private sector injuries, and over 5,000 fatalities. Forklifts injuries and fatalities account for a disproportionate percentage of these injuries and accidents. Of the more than 1 million forklifts in production in the United States, it is estimated that every year 1 in 10 will be involved in an accident, many of these (over 20,000 per year) result in serious injuries, and some will even result in fatalities (over 200 per year). Experts agree that safety training is key to reducing these numbers. For forklifts, such training is mandated, due to the high risk associated with their operation. Virtually every safety training product or training course on the market entails passive learning. Things like workbooks and video tapes are the most common materials used to teach safety training. This proposal describes a low cost Virtual Reality forklift safety trainer. It allows the student to operate a forklift, complete with steering wheel and control levers, in a virtual warehouse environment. The trainee can study and practice accepted safety standards, and subsequently be tested on his or her understanding of these standards. The proposed system is educationally sound as it employs a constructivist approach wherein the student participates in hands-on, active learning. This type of learning is universally accepted among education and training experts as the most effective. This system has the potential to revolutionize safety training by introducing an accessible (low cost), intuitive, and effective safety trainer that lets students operate a highly hazardous vehicle in a zero risk environment. There are hundreds of other environments that the technology could readily be applied to, transforming the way the U.S. approaches safety training from passive, static environments to active, constructive ones. This transformation will ultimately lead to fewer injuries and fatalities in the workplace.
