Foreign workers to receive VR safety training in Nepal before entering S. Korea

Foreign workers bound for South Korea will for the first time be able to learn about workplace hazards and emergency responses through virtual reality training before they arrive — starting with a pilot program in Nepal. The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea plan to assess the program's effectiveness before considering expansion to other labor-sending countries.

The two agencies will sign an MOU Wednesday at the safety and health agency's headquarters in Jung-gu, Ulsan, to cooperate on a pre-entry VR training project for foreign workers. The agreement follows up on an industrial accident prevention pact the two agencies and the Korean embassies of labor-sending countries signed in 2022.

Over the next two years, the agencies will supply VR training equipment to Nepal, support its installation and operation, and train local instructors in how to use and manage the devices. They also plan to run a trial of the experience-based training at Nepal's Employment Permit System center and evaluate its effectiveness.

"If foreign workers can recognize dangerous situations in advance and learn how to respond through virtual reality before entering the country, it will go a long way toward reducing workplace accidents after they are deployed on site," said Kim Hak-jin, head of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency's education management division.

"Starting with the Nepal EPS center, we will gradually build up the local safety education infrastructure," said Park Jeong-uk, director of the foreign workforce bureau at the Human Resources Development Service of Korea.