EDF Energy has begun its work on the first new nuclear new build in the UK for over 20 years. The site at Hinkley C in Somerset will eventually employ over 25,000 workers in a complex supply chain managed by EDF. Nuclear is an industry that has particular training challenges. All its employees, wherever they are based in the supply chain, need a proper understanding of expected behaviours to ensure that communications amongst stakeholders are clear. There is no margin for error in constructing a nuclear reactor.   The strategy being developed by EDF to ensure inherent good nuclear behaviours throughout the supply chain is to create a common set of overarching nuclear values.

It is hoped that these values will underpin the behaviours of every employee, whether contracted or otherwise.   The issue to solve was how to demonstrate the importance of standards of behaviour throughout a supply chain consisting of many companies, each with their own particular business challenges.

As part of a top level blended learning solution nine five-minute video simulations scenes to support a facilitated workshop by experts as part of an ongoing narrative of the building of a fictional nuclear power station that has been destroyed by a series of interlinked bad engineering events.

The videos look back at the faulty practice, poor communication, tick box safety exercises and lack of care within the supply chain leading up to the nuclear accident.   The videos were created into a case study drama whereby characters are recognisable and the storyline gripping as they revealed the catastrophic effects of risks associated with poor management supervision and lack of attention to safety policies and procedures.   Videos were produced with technical nuclear experts to script the video training including:

Storyboarding; Scheduling; Casting (actors); Location scouting; Props & costume organisation; Logistics; Filming; Post Production

The suite of video training has been incorporated and now being used in day long workshops and a scaleable e-learning package that examines the real life behaviours depicted in the drama.   After each five-minute scene, participants are asked questions about the behaviours demonstrated in the video. The response has been powerful and emotionally charged because of the dramatic interaction of the participants with the material.

The learning outcomes elicited both from the ongoing workshops and from the responses to the measurement tools in the e-learning packages, show the video has been engaging, memorable and responsible for uplift in understanding for supply chain managers about the values that EDF Energy is trying to instil in its workforce.

In terms of efficiencies, the flexibility of the video learning package, both as an offline and online tool, has allowed massive saleability across a diverse, multi-location based workforce, saving EDF Energy hundreds of thousands of pounds, whilst ensuring the training is reaching its target through online measurement.