THE NCCCO FOUNDATION
Releases Study on Virtual Reality’s Potential in Certification Testing BY: BOB GLENN
From the Editor: Wire Rope Exchange has covered the development of simulator-based training and a range of other technologies all around the lifting industry – well beyond our core focus on wire rope, rigging and load securement – for several reasons. We believe that understanding how businesses are leveraging new technology can help us recognize opportunities in our own work. We also think that this can help attract youth to the industry, ensuring that we have the talent we need to be successful in the future. Adopting new technology can have risks along with its benefits – and in one sense, this is a story about studying and evaluating those risks.
E
arlier this year, the NCCCO Foundation released a report, essentially three years in the making, on their study of the viability of Virtual Reality (VR) in what they describe
as “high-stakes” testing situations like those conducted by NCCCO. While there could be dramatic efficiencies to be gained in performing some or all of a certification test through a VR experience, rigorous analysis is clearly warranted to ensure the integrity of the certification process given the stakes involved. Te study underlying this report can trace its origin back to CONEXPO-CON/AGG in March of 2017. At that event, Industrial Training International (ITI) launched a VR-based crane training simulator utilizing the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset, which itself was only launched about a year earlier. ITI placed a VR simulator at the NCCCO’s Lift Safety Zone on the Gold Lot, in addition to their own exhibit in the Gold Pavilion where they had another VR simulator as well as additional simulators available for attendees to try out.
A COMMISSION AND A FOUNDATION Te NCCCO – the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators, was founded in January of 1995, and states that its mission is “To develop effective performance standards for those who work in and around load handling equipment; provide fair, valid, and reliable assessments of their knowledge and skill; and act as an authoritative industry resource of related information.” Te NCCCO is formally recognized by the Federal Occupational Safety and
32 SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2020 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
Health Administration (OSHA) and accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), as well as coordinating with and being formally recognized by numerous industry associations across a broad range of sectors in which lifting equipment is used. Te NCCCO Foundation was formally established in 2018 as a 501(c3) charitable organization and is pursuing initiatives in education, workforce development and standards setting. Notably, on the education front - where it has taken over operation of the Safety Information Research Education Network, or SIREN – Workforce Development, and Standards Setting. After the release of the study, a webinar and podcast discussing the background and results of the study were released, featuring:
• Graham Brent, the founding former CEO of the NCCCO who now serves as CEO of the Foundation
• Wallace Judd, PhD, a former ANSI assessor and now President of Authentic Testing Corporation
• Zack Parnell, President and CEO of ITI, maker of the ITI VR Crane Simulator
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