Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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26 | OCTOBER 2017 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk 360-degree training gives sewer workers full picture H ow do you prepare employees for a job that could involve plunging into confined spaces in dark sewers, and coping with the sometimes grim conditions encountered, while making practical decisions on the spot that will help customers experiencing blocked drains? Technology has provided part of the answer at the Slough offices of Lanes Group, the drainage contractor for Thames Water, where a 360-degree projection theatre called the Igloo is being used as a training tool. Up to 15 people can enter the Igloo at once, where they are entirely surrounded by curved screens, a set-up which enables them through the magic of video to be virtually transported to scenes including a suburban street, the middle of the River Thames and a subterranean sewer. It's the next best thing to reality, and provides the perfect setting for a trainer to talk a group of people through situations they might encounter in the field. I visit the facility on a wet Monday a‰ernoon in September, where I am shown round by Mark Grimshaw, Thames Water's Head of Wastewater Networks for North London, and Michael Hall, Lanes Group's Head of Operations. The Igloo stands in glorious isolation in a cavernous astroturf-clad room in the sparkling new offices. Pass through a couple of sets of doors, and there are two floors worth of Lanes employees busily taking calls from customers and logging engineers' visits on their computer screens, but in here, all is peace and quiet. Rows of chairs in one corner indicate a classroom area that is used for conventional training, but the circular Igloo is the clear centrepiece of the room, sticking out as if it has just ma- terialised, Tardis-like, in an environment that wasn't expecting it. Taken inside, my hosts use a tablet to flick the circular screens into life, and we are soon standing in a busy street, next to a van parked alongside a row of houses. Grimshaw explains that the Igloo is particularly useful for health and safety briefings, where participants are encour- aged to spot hazards around them. Looking up and down the virtual street and finding how the eye is constantly A unique training facility at the Slough office of Thames Water contractor Lanes Group allows for an immersive employee training experience By James Brockett The Works Andy Brierley (Lanes) and Mark Grimshaw (Thames) with the Igloo