UX DESIGN
VR
OSHA Fall Safety
I designed a VR-based fall safety training program that turns OSHA’s traditional slideshow curriculum into an on-demand, immersive learning experience for construction workers. Partnering with subject-matter experts, I restructured the material into clear, modular lessons with interactive jobsite scenarios like harness inspection, guardrail setup, and fall-distance testing. Usability testing with trained workers showed higher engagement and perceived retention, helping position VR as a more effective alternative to conventional safety training.
Timeline
6 months
Team
Game Developer, 3D Artist, UX Designer
Role
Research, Content & Interaction Design
Problem & Challenges
Fall safety training is critical in preventing fatal injuries when working from height.
Current training methods lack hands on training and require instructors that speak multiple languages.
Existing training methods are limited to slideshow presentations that lack engagement for trainees.
U.S. Dept. of Labor
Occupational Safety & Health Administration
In 2023, there were 421 fatal falls to a lower level out of 1,075 construction fatalities (BLS data). These deaths are preventable.
Doug Parker
Assistant Secretary of Labor
Employers should communicate expectations that workers will speak up about hazards and have a moral and legal obligation to protect workers from falls.
Research
VR Fall Safety training features voice-acted mentorship from a Construction Management professor, guiding participants through multiple modules of interactive learning material. Subtitles are included in multiple languages.
I created a visual guide to help users comprehend the material, provide instruction for interaction, and supplement detailed information such as OSHA regulation codes. I was responsible for interaction design, instructional design and user testing.
Preliminary Research
• Subject matter
• Problem Frame
Prototype
• Interactions
• 3D Models
• Audio recording
Evaluate
• User testing
• Retention metrics
• Usability
Brainstorming
• Storyboarding
• Design Workshops
Design
• Sketches
• Visual guide
• Script
Sources
Building Construction Mgmt. Professor
James L. Jenkins
OSHA online training materials
OSHA's Fall Prevention Campaign
Key Solution
The key solution was a modular, self-paced VR training flow that turns OSHA’s fall-safety material into interactive jobsite scenarios. Instead of a long presentation, workers move through short lessons with clear objectives, guided practice (e.g., harness inspection, guardrail setup, fall-distance checks), and quick knowledge checks—so the training is repeatable on demand and teaches through doing.
Final Outcome
Our team delivered a self-paced VR fall-safety training product that replaces a long, slide-based class with hands-on, jobsite-style practice—so workers learn by doing, not just listening.
2+ hours of content
validated by 20 beta testers
improved engagement with a ~30% retention lift
How the design evolved: reframing existing training content into a product structure that could be taught in VR, to building interactive scenarios, then testing with trained workers and iterating based on what felt realistic, what was confusing, and what actually supported learning.
Feedback
Pepper Construction volunteered multiple trained construction workers to participate in user testing.
Workers provided feedback and the opportunity for observation while they engaged in the virtual training. The data we gathered helped us make improvements to the program and to proceed with the remaining development with confidence. Here are some images we took from our round of testing.
Engagement: completion %, time-to-complete, zone-out score, off-task count.
Fatigue: pre→post fatigue change, TLX mental demand/effort/frustration.
Retention: immediate quiz %, follow-up quiz %, and critical error rate on the task.
Design Principles
Spending time with our SME and the training materials allowed me to develop our information architecture, breaking the content in 6 distinct modules.
Each module would include: learning objectives → 5–7 minute lessons → interactive scenario → quick retrieval quiz.
Show, don't tell using job-site situations
Keep modules short and ladder up from fundamentals
Practice safety, simulating without physical risk
Use repetition and retrieval to boost retention
Storyboarding
Rough early storyboards were created for each proposed module so that expectations could be aligned, aiding future design discussions by homogenizing the project vision.
Laying out all of the proposed content in storyboard form helped the team better gauge the project scale and make critical decisions such as separating residential safety training.
Prototyping
The core value of VR is immersive engagement, which relies on quality interaction design
Prototyping interactions was a cross-functional collaboration with developers to create immersive experiences that could were also optimized and simplified to reduce development costs. Beyond the basic point-n- click menus and interactable static objects, a few key and potentially complex motor activities had to be demonstrated.
The tape measure is a simple measuring tool allowing users to perform measurements of guardrails on the jobsite. Aiming the controller and pulling the trigger extends the tape toward the object of interest, displaying the measurement in digits above the hand.
Harnesses and Lanyards
The Personal Fall Arrest System is the core equipment for fall safety which requires unique interaction to teach inspection.
Harness Inspection
Harnesses can be inspected through physical manipulation of two floating harnesses to allow comparison between damaged and undamaged harnesses, highlighting the critical failure points.
Lanyard Inspection
Inspection requires making a U-shape bend along the length of the lanyard. Users can change the position of the bend with a simple hand motion to perform a visual inspection.
Fall Safety Test
The Fall Safety Test was our chance to test retention and increase engagement simulating a fall based on the trainees setup.
The fall distance test is the culmination of fall safety training. Users must perform an inspection and appropriate installation of the fall arrest system. The equipment is then tested, with its results being demonstrated by a virtual ragdoll, minus the traumatic details and sound effects.
Final Modules
The last modules developed included safe ladder use and roof safety lines.
Proper placement and safe use of ladders prevents injury. Users are asked to place an extension ladder against a house at the proper angle. By standing in the right place and extending their arms completely demonstrates the proper 4:1 angle for placing extension ladders.
Next Steps
The success of the VR fall-safety program did more than prove the learning model—it built confidence that immersive, on-demand training could deliver real value at scale. With a shipped product, clear user feedback, and a repeatable development approach, we were able to secure funding to expand the work into a second program focused on excavation safety.
Using the same lean team and production pipeline, the next training program targets the higher complexity of material excavation and underground infrastructure—teaching safety protocols and decision-making across a range of real-world scenarios (from hazard recognition and site setup to working around buried utilities and changing ground conditions).
