Embedding a culture of health and safety into engineering learning and teaching is an important objective in the development of a professional engineer. However the topic can appear very "dry" to students, who may lack engagement. This paper introduces a new virtual reality simulation which has been developed to illustrate real health and safety hazards on an industrial construction site environment. Students can explore the domain and discover realistic hazards. They are then invited to identify the risks associated with each hazard.
The virtual reality simulation has been used to support a realistic civil engineering experiential initiative, the Constructionarium. Each year students work together for a week-long team project on a real construction site to build realistic scale structures. Students are required to submit method statements and associated risk assessments to the contractor before being allowed to proceed. Some of the real health and safety issues encountered during the Constructionarium are reviewed, together with plans for linking this project with the virtual reality simulation more closely.