(7a) Development and Research Activities of Advanced System Safety Laboratory for Safety Education/Culture

In recent years, serious accidents have continually occurred in large industrial facilities in Japan. As well-known many kinds of hazardous materials are under controlled in chemical facilities. If a severe accident occurs, there is a possibility of a serious damage to employees and also local residents in the community. We have responsibility to transfer these experiences to young generation to keep safe environment and to protect the life of people. Our society requires to build up believable safety and reliability of chemical plants. Safety education is important, because safety performance is composed of safety basis & safety culture. Safety Culture dwells in people’s mind. For the future generations, we need steady and sustainable culture of safety in the field of chemical engineering. In order to build up a believable safety culture into all persons concerned with the safety engineering, the followings are particularly important.

1. Involvement of individual/organization responsibility into safety culture

2. Mutual understanding and sharing of risk/safety information

3. Inheritance of technology and safety knowledge

Safety culture is the whole of the attitude and characteristics of organizations and individuals. But every person has a different sense of value. This is one of cause of lower social awareness, difficulties in partnership.

In this paper, we show our research activities of advanced system safety laboratory for safety education/culture. Our main research subjects are “Advanced Operating Support and Safety Management”and “Safety Education and Training using VR/AR“. 

 We have developed the manual operation support system using Augmented Reality technology and the operator training system using virtual reality technology. Both systems based on the plant information using dynamic simulator. The manual operation support system using AR technology can help the operator to confirm the quantitative data in the field. And the operator training system can use safety education/training for chemical plant. A trainee can learn the correct operation through the simulated experience to prevent an accident. In Japan, rapid generation change of operators is progressing. The inheritance of technology and accomplishments is essential for making a safe environment. When committed to an accident, a quick decision is required. However, at present, sufficient training is not done for safety and cost issues. The operator training system will lead to the improvement of the safety awareness.

1. Manual operation support system using AR

This system can display changing sensor data to the device for field workers. The field worker operate the instruction device, and the sensor data are updated in real time.

Using AR technology, field workers can get visually instrument information. Also the instruction becomes the quantitative information from the traditional qualitative information, it can reduce the transmission errors to the field workers from operators.

2.Safety Training System Using VR Technology

The safety awareness of workers will improve by experiential learning.

However, reproducing the non-stationary conditions to actual equipment or mock-up cannot be performed because it is dangerous. By using the virtual reality (VR) technology, we can build up a virtual chemical plant with lower cost compared to real plant. The operator can experience the fire and explosion accidents in the virtual space.  This system is linked with the plant model within the VR environment from the process value of a dynamic plant simulator. In order to operate safely the device of various in chemical plants, operators have a responsible area of their own. There are two roles can be broadly divided into the plant operator. "Field man" is the role of operating the equipment in the field. Is the role that controls the refineries (control room) in the control center, "Board man". A trainee in the system can experience a cooperative work “Field man ”and “Board man” in the similar environment of the real chemical plant.