
South Africa’s first safety escape room, an inventive method of Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) training, was unveiled by KBC, a supplier of health and safety solutions. Safety escape room training, which was recently introduced at Phalaborwa Mining Company (PMC), provides an engaging, immersive, game-like experience for safety training. It provides a dynamic and useful method to improve critical safety skills and raise hazard awareness in an “on-the-job” setting.
Created to address the unique requirements of PMC, this cutting-edge technology aims to improve safety abilities by using interactive, real-world scenarios. Since its success at PMC, KBC has expanded the safety escape room to include a customizable service for a range of industrial settings, including open-pit and underground mining as well as Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) settings in diverse industries.
Says Mabore Macheru, Manager in Training Development and Contractor Management at PMC, “We required a fresh approach to training and partnered with KBC to develop a flagship hazard identification solution tailored to their safety standards. This innovative solution was designed to integrate a practical, real-life element into training, allowing our staff to engage in a fun, hands-on experience while learning about critical risks specific to the mine.”
Similar to a game, players in KBC’s safety escape room must cooperate to detect and eliminate potential risks within a predetermined amount of time as they navigate simulated, high-stakes safety obstacles. Teams can recognize and control possible risks while honing their leadership, problem-solving, collaboration, and decision-making abilities by working under time limitations.
This program goes beyond conventional classroom instruction by giving participants a hands-on, firsthand understanding of safety principles that they can use in their everyday jobs. In addition to identifying leadership traits in employees, this game-like training style enables the mine to pinpoint their strengths and potential areas for improvement.
“The safety escape room transforms safety training from theory into practice,” says Ruan Janse van Rensburg, Partner: Corporate Accounts at KBC. “It places participants in real-life scenarios where they actively engage with critical safety concepts, applying them on the spot. This immersive experience not only reinforces essential skills but also gives us a clear, real-time view of each team’s strengths and areas for improvement, allowing for more targeted and effective training.”
Now a crucial part of KBC’s training suite, the safety escape room can be modified to fit a variety of OSH settings outside of mining. Customers can use the safety escape room as a stand-alone training experience or in conjunction with KBC’s Hazard Park training for a more thorough, practical safety program in a variety of industrial settings thanks to this flexible product.
On November 21, 2024, PMC held an open day to formally unveil the safety escape room, giving contractors, their support staff, and senior management a firsthand look at the interactive safety challenges.
The success of the open day resulted in an additional 25 reservations for PCC staff. In light of this favorable response, KBC intends to extend the safety escape room in 2025 to provide more enterprises with an unforgettable and captivating method of providing crucial safety training.