PetroENG’s “Working at Heights” VR Training Simulation

The Client

PetroENG is a Cape Town-based petroleum engineering and maintenance specialist delivering safety-critical services across South Africa’s petrochemical sector.

The company works primarily on bulk fuel depots, supporting fuel infrastructure, compliance-driven upgrades, and HSEQ-led operational requirements in high-stress industrial environments where safety and competency are essential.

Their teams regularly operate at height on scaffolding, making practical training, hazard recognition, and adherence to procedure a core part of day-to-day work.

The Challenge

PetroENG initially approached Realm as part of a broader innovation roadmap, exploring how virtual reality could strengthen safety readiness in high-risk bulk fuel depot environments. Through early discussions, the team identified working at heights as the most valuable first application of VR within their training programme.

Working at heights training is a mandatory part of fuel depot operations, but much of the process is necessarily structured, theoretical, and compliance-driven. PetroENG wanted to enhance this approach by introducing a more practical and immersive layer that could build confidence and workplace readiness before individuals are assessed in real conditions.

External research has also highlighted VR’s potential as a high-impact training method. PwC research has reported that VR learners can be up to 275% more confident applying what they have learned compared to classroom-only training.

A key early unknown was how to translate the physical reality of scaffolding work into VR in a way that felt credible. The project required a deep understanding of not just the technical requirements, but the lived experience of working at height in this context, and how that experience could be recreated safely and believably.

The work also needed to be delivered in full compliance with PetroENG’s strict on-site safety standards, ensuring the solution aligned with the operational realities of active site environments from the outset.

The Solution

To implement this initiative, PetroENG partnered with Realm to design and develop a complete VR training simulation, with Realm responsible for consulting, design, and technical delivery.

To ground the experience in reality, Realm’s team completed working-at-heights training on site and spent time on the scaffolding itself. This allowed the simulation to reflect the movement, constraints, and decision-making workers face in real operational site conditions.

One of the most important technical decisions was designing a movement system that allowed users to climb and interact with scaffolding naturally, using physical actions rather than abstract navigation. This became central to the sense of realism the experience needed to achieve.

Usability was treated as a priority throughout development. While hand tracking was initially explored, structured walkthroughs showed that controllers provided a more consistent and accessible input method, reducing friction for first-time VR users and supporting smoother adoption in training environments.

“A lot of incidents don’t start with equipment failure – they start with human behaviour under pressure. We wanted to make sure our people are more readily prepared to prevent unsafe behaviour before it turns into an incident.”

– HSEQ spokesperson, PetroENG

What Was Delivered

The final experience combined a high-fidelity industrial site setting with clear, minimal interface guidance.

Users move through scaffold access and tethering procedures and are shown the consequences of correct and incorrect safety gear use, including a fall sequence that transitions into real-world 360-degree footage to reinforce procedural importance.

As part of PetroENG’s Mining Indaba 2026 showcase, a streamlined version of the experience was prepared to enable stakeholders and industry partners to engage with the concept in a live event setting. The full simulation continues to serve as the foundation of PetroENG’s ongoing training implementation.

The Results

Through this implementation, PetroENG introduced an additional layer of immersive preparation within its safety training programme.

Post-delivery walkthroughs with scaffolding and safety personnel confirmed that the simulation captured the physical sensation of climbing and the emotional impact of working at height, including the moment of falling. This demonstrated that the simulation could be used as a meaningful preparation step before live site assessment.

The initiative supports PetroENG in two practical ways:

The programme also signals PetroENG’s continued investment in digital innovation within safety-critical operations.

“VR gives teams a realistic, repeatable way to practise the right decisions, without the consequences of getting it wrong on a live site.”

– HSEQ spokesperson, PetroENG

Looking Ahead

Following Mining Indaba, PetroENG plans to continue evolving the VR training capability as part of its broader safety and innovation roadmap.

Future plans include integrating analytics and reporting touchpoints into PetroENG’s Learning Management System, supporting longer-term certification tracking and structured compliance oversight.

The scalable hub architecture also creates a foundation for PetroENG to expand into other safety-critical training areas over time, including additional modules such as confined space preparation or further scaffolding assessment.

Key Takeaways