Gamification Boosts Engagement in Safety-Critical Training

Mintra is proud to announce its partnership with PaleBlue, a leading training and simulation company. With this partnership, PaleBlue’s gamified training courses will be available to Mintra’s clients through Mintra’s online course catalogues: Trainingportal and Mintra.com.

In industries where safety is paramount, the need for effective training cannot be overstated. Traditional eLearning methods, while necessary, can sometimes fall short of fully engaging learners and ensuring the retention of critical knowledge. This is where PaleBlue, a leading training and simulation company, steps in, challenging the norms with innovative, gamified approaches that are transforming safety-critical training.

The new suite of gamified courses, available on Trainingportal and mintra.com, includes; Confined Spaces, Working at Height, and Work Permit Training, among others. These courses, offered in both English and Norwegian, are designed for the oil and gas sector, with situation-specific versions for the maritime industry expected to land by the end of September.

The Evolution of Digital Learning: eLearning 3.0

PaleBlue's approach to training, which they term "eLearning 3.0," merges the accessibility of traditional eLearning with the engagement and interactivity of gaming. This method not only improves knowledge retention but also adapts to diverse learning styles accessible online and is multi-device compatible.

The company's experience in providing simulation training to high-profile clients like NASA and the European Space Agency has informed their development of the courses. The result is a suite of training modules that cover industry best practice guidelines but also in an exploratory and enjoyable way.

The Impact of Gamification in Safety Training

Gamification in training refers to the application of game-design elements—such as scoring points, leaderboards, and challenges—in non-game contexts to make learning more engaging. In safety-critical environments, this approach is particularly effective, ensuring that learners not only pay attention but also internalise critical safety procedures.

By employing high-quality 3D graphics and interactive scenarios, PaleBlue allows learners to navigate virtual environments, engage with digital co-workers, and tackle real-world challenges in a controlled, risk-free setting. For instance, a course might simulate an enclosed space entry, requiring the learner to identify potential hazards, perform equipment checks, and follow safety protocols—all within an immersive, game-like experience. This approach shifts passive learning into active problem-solving, motivating the learner to improve their performance.

Enhancing Intrinsic Motivation and Knowledge Retention

One of the key advantages of gamified training is its ability to tap into intrinsic motivation—the internal drive to perform a task for its own sake. PaleBlue's courses are designed around principles of autonomy, reward, and relatedness, which are essential for fostering intrinsic motivation.

• Autonomy: Learners have the freedom to choose how they proceed through the course, making decisions that directly impact their progress.
• Reward: As learners master each challenge, they gain a sense of accomplishment and confidence in their abilities.
• Relatedness: Interactions with virtual characters and scenarios create a sense of connection and relevance to real-world tasks.

This motivational design leads to a reversal of traditional learning dynamics: where learners become eager participants, driven by a desire to achieve high scores and master the material. Each course is structured as a gated learning journey with bite-size challenges that must be completed to advance. The excellent quality graphics and randomised nature of the challenges ensure that learners face new scenarios each time, leading to a deeper, more durable understanding of safety protocols. Crucial for industries where mistakes can have severe consequences.

Addressing Safety-Critical Needs Across Industries

Gamified training is not just about making learning enjoyable; it’s about ensuring safety and saving lives. For example, in the maritime industry, regulations such as SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) require regular drills for enclosed space entry and rescue. These scenarios are fraught with hidden dangers, from oxygen depletion to toxic gas exposure, making continuous and effective training essential.

PaleBlue's interactive courses will simulate these high-risk situations, allowing seafarers to practice responses from the safety of a virtual environment. This reinforcement of correct procedures helps build the muscle memory and mental alertness necessary to respond effectively in real-life emergencies, potentially preventing fatalities.

Similarly, in the oil and gas sector, falls from heights remain a leading cause of workplace fatalities. PaleBlue’s gamified training modules, which include hazard spotting, equipment inspection, and site planning, are designed to prepare workers to handle these challenges, significantly reducing the risk of accidents.

Certifications, Endorsements, and Industry Integration

The new courses are aligned with the global life safety rules list, featured by IOGP (International Oil and Gas Producers) and IMCA (International Marine Contractors Association). They work as a natural extension to essential certifications with the gamification serving as the practical reinforcement of the theory learnt. First users complete the essential certification and then practice the application of that material in the interactive gamified course.

“Mintra is a respected brand in the safety-critical industries, and we are thrilled to collaborate with them in our mission to transform training,” said Felix Gorbatsevich, CEO of PaleBlue. “Our approach, which we call eLearning 3.0, combines the best of traditional eLearning with the interactivity and engagement of gaming. By integrating our courses into Mintra’s platform, we are making this innovative training method accessible to a wider audience, helping organisations to reduce the risk of accidents and ultimately protect lives.”

Felix summarises the company’s vision: “We aspire to transform the eLearning landscape for industrial users, creating what we call eLearning 3.0. This means dynamic, interactive, and engaging content that perfectly complements the digital learning materials that clients of Mintra are using today.”