At the recent IOSH conference, EEF — the manufacturers’ organisation — launched a new game-based learning tool designed to give employers and employees an interactive tool to promote health and safety in the workplace.

The PC- and tablet-based tool is an “audio-visual experience” that can be custom-branded and tailor-made to replicate a specific work-place.

In the game, learners are rewarded for the speed and accuracy of their decision-making, as they manage health-and-safety risks in a simulated work environment.

The tool will also allow individuals and departments to compete against each other.

EEF says that this tool also gives employers an insight into areas where further knowledge is required — and potential ‘hot spots’ in the business — allowing them to track the likeliness and severity of risk and take appropriate preventative action.

Steve Jackson, health, safety and sustainability director at EEF, said: “Integrating games into your training programme is a fun and rewarding route to engaging your workforce, turning what some may see as a dry topic into the talk of the company.

“Built around a real work-place, this new tool is the ideal way to help build a culture of health and safety into the work-place.”

Further details can be found at the Web site (www.eef.org.uk/hsgame).