From this February, more than 700 professionals in the thermal generation division of Endesa in Spain, the leading company in the Spanish electricity sector and the second in the electricity market in Portugal, will train in a risk-free environment and more efficiently in key operations thanks to an advanced immersive virtual reality solution developed by Minsait, an Indra company.

The VIVES project (Virtual, Immersive, Vision, Endesa, Security) has a dual objective. On the one hand, it serves as a fundamental tool of the LOTO methodology, a new signaling and equipment lockout procedure recently implemented at Endesa, aimed at guaranteeing that equipment and facilities are in safe conditions during operations that may pose a risk to the employee. On the other hand, it seeks to offer greater training and motivation to professionals through the most advanced training techniques based on new technologies, contributing at the same time to the company’s digital transformation project.

In particular, the LOTO system is a safety procedure to disconnect and record the various sources of energy of industrial equipment while maintenance, cleaning or repair operations are carried out. The LOTO procedure protects workers both from an accidental ‘live’ energy breakout, as well as from residual energies and unscheduled equipment activation which could cause an accident during maintenance or insulation services (cuts, entrapment, burns, electric shock, etc.)

USING PPE

The training solution for Endesa’s employees who work at generation facilities integrates the advantages of virtual reality and serious games. In this way, the professional is trained in the effective execution of each stage in the process of discharging (both mechanical and electrical): blocking, testing and raising of the discharge. At each stage, various real situations and interactions with participants are recreated. The discharge operator will have to take action applying the procedures associated with LOTO and the use of PPE (personal protective equipment).