Keeping people and assets safe in hazardous environments demands budget, time and resources to shape the most effective training.
Businesses must get it right for their workers with easy to follow, memorable learning that translates into the safest workplace practices.
Norwich-based digital training creator Reuzer is leading the field in meeting rising demand for custom 2D and 3D animations and suites of bite-size learning resources, created in multiple languages to suit clients’ locations.
The team brings training to life with dynamic design-led resources that clients praise for holding users’ attention, meaning they retain the information to take to work.
And they can also manage the delivery. Reuzer’s easy-to-access platform means all e-learning, learner records and delivery statistics are in one place, cutting administration time by up to 90% for some clients.
Founder Ian Smith said the team was transforming how safety-critical businesses train their staff, working internationally with big clients, mostly in the energy sector, creating bespoke training courses and packages workers can use on the move.
Plans expand into the wider safety-critical sector, including construction, rail and aviation.
“We punch well above our weight with our digital-first approach. Clients can use our technology to learn whenever and wherever they choose,” said Ian.
“We do more work outside the UK than in it. Most of our work is in Houston, Dubai, Oman and that part of the world, working for big names in the energy sector and making huge differences to their training.
“We don’t design courses to tick boxes. We build from scratch for users to be immersed in the training, with only the relevant information they need in bite-sized amounts to digest and absorb.”
Every course has a final assessment with certificates issued immediately, which users can post directly to their LinkedIn profiles. Its learning management system allows companies to assign and automate digital training needs quickly, with no need to wait to enrol users, reset passwords or rely on expensive third parties.
Reuzer’s team is growing, with new starts planned and support from contractors, who always get credited for their work, including 3D designers, voice over artists and translators.
Reuzer’s suite of 18 bespoke two-minute videos for Vantage Drilling recently won the Dubai-based company an award from the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC).
Wayne Bauer, vice president QHSE and sustainability for Vantage Drilling, said Reuzer’s 2D animated HSE alerts won the Best Drilling Contractor Safety Initiative at the IADC – Southern Arabian Peninsula Chapter HSE Awards Ceremony for 2023.
“During the awards ceremony the judges stated that this was one of the best initiatives that they had seen in terms of uniqueness and effectiveness,” said Wayne.
“The initiative was incredibly well-received by both offshore and onshore crews. Visuals, being more impactful than text, made this approach very effective.
“Videos offered a dynamic and engaging way to show how situations evolve into injuries or near misses, providing insights beyond what traditional alerts offer. This method has greatly enhanced hazard awareness among our crew, creating a culture of ‘healthy unease’ that keeps everyone alert but not fearful.”
The animated alerts encouraged active discussions within Vantage Drilling’s teams, generating valuable feedback on how to prevent future incidents. They also ensured a consistent message was delivered across its rig fleet.
“This highlights the effectiveness of visual learning and the value of maintaining an engaged, well-informed and proactive approach to safety,” said Wayne.
“Reuzer is a very easy company to work with. They understand our needs implicitly, which makes it enjoyable to work with them. The quality of work delivered always exceeds our expectations which helps to make it a seamless experience from concept to completion.
“Reuzer’s expertise in translating the written word into an animated video has provided us with a tool that is a critical leap forward for safety in our company.”
Reuzer’s e-learning content is hosted on its end-to-end learning management system, used remotely by thousands of worldwide users.
Most of its work is custom-made. It also has off-the-shelf courses, from technical skills to risk management, health and safety to leadership skills, with interactivity for employee engagement.
Ed Suckling and Nick Smith are currently working on a “super sharp” 3D project for Transocean, making eight-minute awareness animations about how workers can avoid putting themselves in danger and unintentionally create their own hazards.
A facial recognition log-in to its platform to eliminate the need for a password for clients with remote workers is also being developed.
“Users will scan their face,” explained Ed. “Many users in Saudi Arabia and Oman don’t have emails or smartphones and need an alternative. The facial recognition has a 99.97% success rate, and this will be hugely useful.”
Combining live action footage with 3D animation for films for long-term client KCA Deutag was a recent ‘first’ for Reuzer.
“The finished films are like nothing you would typically see across safety critical industry training. Senior leaders were interviewed talking to camera at a desk and 3D animated objects appear on the desk and behind them to reinforce messages.
“One thing that really brought the animation to life was replicating the lighting in the live-action footage.”
Reuzer worked with brand guidelines, using the colours and typefaces for a consistent feel for the leading drilling and engineering contractor, which has about 110 drilling rigs in 20 countries.
The team spent two days filming in Aberdeen, as well as using additional footage of KCA Deutag’s head office, editing into three 10-minute films that they then animated for the new safety initiative – Learning from Normal Work.
“This was really innovative,” said Ed.
“The videography and animation bring a new level of interest and excitement to KCA’s important messages.”
Pushing the boundaries on what’s possible when it comes to training has been Reuzer’s USP.
“We are getting a reputation for high-end work,” concluded Ian. “Companies want custom branded e-learning and animation with consistent company messages. Safety updates, training and lessons learned issued by PDF just aren’t enough anymore.”
Made in Norfolk, delivered worldwide
Reuzer has come a long way in the four years since its inception. Ian Smith and Ed Suckling had known each other for nine years, working together at Oilennium, an e-learning business that was taken over by Petrofac.
“Covid happened with home working,” said Ian. “Petrofac was looking for people interested in voluntary redundancy and I decided to take it, and I’m so glad I did.”
Ian joined forces with designer Bobby Burrage, of Norwich-based The Click, and together launched Reuzer in November 2020, with Ed joining them a year later. The name Reuzer was chosen to indicate its target market – the remote user.
Reuzer’s first client was Great Yarmouth-created Seajacks – now Cadeler, after being acquired earlier this year. More than 4,500 courses have been completed by Seajacks employees, with around 400 people currently on its platform taking part in e-learning.
“Ian Robertson, from Seajacks, came to us and wanted a lot of e-learning built specifically for Seajacks,” explained Ian, adding that Seajacks was also the first user of the Reuzer platform, which reduced company admin by about 90%. “They have turned into a great long-term client.”
Reuzer went on to secure a number of clients in the energy sector, including SBM, Transocean, Borr Drilling, Perenco, Shelf Drilling, Vantage Drilling, KCA Deutag and others.
And by chance, Reuzer has found success outside of the safety-critical sector and has some household names such as M&S, Sainsbury, Quorn and Pets at Home, currently trialling the platform through a third party re-seller agreement.
Clients say Reuzer’s way of bringing training to life with relevant animation and highly visual content has transformed how they train their employees and contractors.
Graham Cameron, of Transocean, said: “By working together with Reuzer, we gave them a vision of what we wanted which forced them to think out of the box for some solutions and then deliver exactly what we asked for – visual, effective and easy to understand e-leaning which will, we have no doubt, engage and help train our global workforce in our assurance and verification tool: WorkSight.
“It is particularly refreshing to work with people who understand our core business and help us find ways to achieve our training goals.”
In another example, Borr Drilling had originally planned for its ‘8 Ways to Stop the Drop’ campaign video to be used as a regional resource, but such positive feedback led it to be used globally.
Reuzer’s dynamic communication technique was also chosen to open this year’s two-day Southern North Sea Conference and Exhibition organised by EEEGR, with a graphic video telling the story of the east of England’s energy history, its present projects and the pipeline of future development.
EEEGR chair Kevin Keable said: “The film was outstanding and a complete attention grabber. As it unfolded, people put down their pens and phones and were gripped by its content.
“It was so good we are developing it for much wider use to illustrate the east of England’s industry leadership, expertise, experience and wealth of opportunities.”
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