Scalable Hazard Training for Colruyt

Group-based VR safety training that scales across Colruyt Technics’s workforce, boosting hazard awareness and retention.

Other cases

Colruyt Technics partnered with OneBonsai to scale workforce safety education using off-the-shelf VR fire safety and hazard spotting modules. With group sessions supported by 12 headsets, the training improved engagement, retention, and efficiency helping Colruyt modernize safety education across its operations.

Challenge

Training a Large Workforce in Safety Practices

Solution

Off-the-Shelf VR Safety Modules

Approach

Group-Based Immersive Learning

Outcome

Efficient, Engaging, and Scalable Training

Challenge

Training a Large Workforce in Safety Practices

Colruyt Group Technics, responsible for supporting the operations of one of Belgium’s largest retailers, faced the ongoing challenge of training a vast and diverse workforce in essential safety practices. Fire safety, hazard spotting, and emergency response are critical to keeping employees and facilities safe, but traditional training approaches struggled to scale across thousands of workers. Classroom sessions and live drills were resource-intensive and often lacked the level of engagement required to ensure employees truly internalized safe practices. Furthermore, coordinating training across multiple sites posed logistical difficulties, while knowledge retention from passive learning methods was inconsistent. Colruyt needed a modern, scalable solution that could be rolled out across its workforce efficiently, while still keeping employees motivated and engaged.

“We needed a way to train large groups efficiently, without losing engagement or impact.”

Solution

Off-the-Shelf VR Safety Modules

To address these needs, Colruyt adopted OneBonsai’s ready-made VR training modules for hazard spotting and fire safety. These immersive modules placed employees in virtual environments modeled on real workplaces, where they were tasked with identifying risks, handling hazards, and following emergency protocols. Fire safety training included realistic scenarios with smoke, flames, and the use of extinguishers, while hazard spotting challenged employees to recognize unsafe conditions before they caused accidents. By using VR, Colruyt could deliver engaging and repeatable training sessions that ensured employees learned by experiencing realistic scenarios rather than passively absorbing information.

Approach

Group-Based Immersive Learning

Colruyt implemented the VR training using 12 headsets simultaneously, allowing groups of up to 20 employees to train together in sessions. This setup enabled training to be delivered at scale, reducing bottlenecks and ensuring consistent instruction across multiple teams. OneBonsai worked closely with Colruyt to integrate the VR modules into their existing safety culture, tailoring deployment to match organizational needs. The approach emphasized portability, scalability, and user-friendliness, ensuring that training sessions could be run smoothly across different sites without requiring extensive technical support. The result was an accessible, efficient, and highly interactive safety training program.

“We can now also reach other groups like schools to show what Colruyt is all about.”

Outcome

The VR training significantly improved employee engagement and knowledge retention compared to traditional safety programs. Workers reported that the immersive scenarios made the risks and procedures feel real, helping them better remember safe practices. Managers observed a measurable boost in hazard awareness and preparedness, as well as greater enthusiasm for safety training across teams. By implementing scalable VR modules, Colruyt not only streamlined training delivery but also reinforced its reputation as a modern, tech-forward company investing in worker wellbeing. The solution helped create a safer, more confident workforce while reducing the logistical strain of delivering safety training at scale.