Many prisoners face complex vocational learning challenges including poor essential skills, a lack of qualifications and little work experience. Many choose to work in construction on leaving prison. SITE IT prepares them for work, using immersive Virtual Reality (VR) training experience in Construction Health & Safety, delivered in the prison environment.
This project completes the innovative prototype work of SITE IT to develop a VR training and assessment tool for use in prisons. Learners, selected from the prison population, move through three ‘zones’ within a virtual building site, undertaking tasks along the way, all forming units of an OCN Level 1 qualification in Health & Safety in a Construction Environment.
Delivered through headsets, the application captures the learner’s performance, followed by a debrief session with a construction trainer to help them understand their progress and improve their confidence.
The Construction Industry Training Board Northern Ireland (CITBNI) will guide the development process and engage construction employers in the testing, to ensure the content is fit for purpose within the industry. Post-release work placements will be offered to the learners to improve motivation.