BT uses an enjoyable way to highlight a serious issue

Understanding spaces

Confined spaces kill. That's the warning issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Unless employees are aware of the dangers, the problem is going to get worse.

What's most worrying is that confined spaces aren't that easy to spot. Many roles within BT involve working within confined spaces, so it's imperative that employees understand the dangers. When they are being trained they must remain fully attentive.

That means employees must be given plenty to do so they don't feel they are just being bombarded with information. But this is an important subject, and a lot of information has to be covered. And the course must also be short, to reduce the possibility of employees 'switching off'.

Balancing interaction and information

So BT chose Brightwave to create an e-learning course that satisfied these objectives. The end result is a perfect balance of interaction and information. The core message builds slowly and steadily so learners can keep up. At the start of the course they are presented with an empty room and asked: 'Is this a confined space?' By the end they're learning about the dangers lurking on customer sites - all in under 40 minutes.

Animation also plays a key part. BT's original training slides showed employees how to enter confined spaces. They worked well, featuring a cartoon employee, but the illustrations were static. Brightwave has updated the idea: now learners can see 'Stan' climb into manholes, walk around tunnels and step into trenches.

This blend of interaction and animation has resulted in a course that's both fun and informative.