From knowledge to action: Assessing the effectiveness of immersive virtual reality training on safety behaviors in confined spaces using the Kirkpatrick model

• Design and development of an immersive VR system for confined space safety training. • Use of the Kirkpatrick model for experimental validation of platform effectiveness. • Excellent user experience of VR system, enhancing engagement and knowledge transfer. • Positive impact on operators’ safety behaviors, reducing execution times and errors. Safety in the industrial sector is paramount, with national legislations establishing specific regulations to reduce accidents. These regulations emphasize risk removal and proper operator training as preventive measures. However, traditional training can be time-consuming and costly, leading companies to meet only the minimum requirements. In particular, confined spaces pose significant dangers, often resulting in fatal, cascading accidents due to a lack of proper safety procedures. Therefore, effective training is crucial to mitigate these risks. Advanced technologies like Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) present new opportunities for cost-effective and extensive training campaigns by eliminating the risks associated with real environment training, offering a safe yet realistic experience. Despite the widespread adoption of IVR training applications in industrial research, there is a notable lack of systematic approaches to evaluate their effectiveness. Conducting such evaluations is crucial to ascertain their impact on essential training outcomes, including participant engagement, knowledge transfer, and enhanced safety behavior during work activities. To address this gap, we developed an IVR-based training platform for confined space safety procedures and established a systematic validation procedure using the Kirkpatrick model to assess its effectiveness compared to conventional training methods. Results demonstrate that IVR training provides an excellent user experience, better knowledge transfer than the traditional approach, and improved performance in simulated procedures, reducing execution errors and completion times. This dual focus on creating and validating the IVR system underscores its potential as an effective training tool in hazardous environments such as confined spaces, where proper training can prevent tragic fatalities.