BearingPoint is supporting Suva, Switzerland’s leading accident insurance provider, in developing Swiss Safety VR – a state-of-the-art virtual reality platform delivering highly effective safety training to more than two million individuals insured with Suva.
Preventing workplace accidents is essential not only for protecting employees but also for reducing financial and operational risks for companies. This is especially true in the construction industry, where workers face daily exposure to hazards. While safety measures are continuously being improved, Switzerland still records between 260,000 and nearly 300,000 workplace accidents annually – often on construction sites – due to non-compliance with safety protocols, time pressure, or negligence.
A scalable simulation platform with real-life scenarios for safety training
In collaboration with BearingPoint, Suva has developed a cutting-edge training platform incorporating Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (XR). After evaluating the technological potential of these tools, BearingPoint created immersive training scenarios focused on high-risk tasks such as securing heavy loads on construction sites or preventing falls from unprotected areas. This step was crucial in identifying ways to enhance traditional safety approaches. The project team then developed prototypes to demonstrate how immersive technologies can help prevent accidents and convey safety instructions clearly. The platform was also designed to be scalable and user-friendly for a large audience.
Together, BearingPoint and Suva created a comprehensive operating model, a robust technological architecture, and a new end-to-end service offering for the Swiss market called Swiss Safety VR. A growing library of 20-minute interactive VR experiences – illustrating the real-world consequences of unsafe practices or workplace accidents and proving more educational, efficient, and cost-effective than traditional methods – is continuously updated. The team also provided structured support for ongoing process improvement and scenario simulation and facilitated change management through train-the-trainer services, which were critical for integrating the XR platform into Suva’s internal workflows. A key success factor was the strong focus on collaboration. By co-investing in VR safety content with various industry stakeholders – such as Swiss trade associations and major construction companies – the collaboration unlocked significant synergy potential.
Matthias Roeser, Partner at BearingPoint, states:
“Together with Suva, we are using virtual reality to deliver practical and effective workplace safety training. By combining immersive technology with real-life risk scenarios, Swiss Safety VR makes training more engaging, more impactful, and more scalable. This partnership reflects our commitment to innovation: we have harnessed advanced technology to enhance workplace safety while also improving efficiency and controlling costs. By making the platform widely accessible, we are helping raise safety standards across industries.”
Immersive training experiences to enhance workplace safety
The launch of the Swiss Safety VR platform allows companies and their customers to improve their business processes while integrating modern, innovative training and communication techniques into daily operations. This new tool enables a significant improvement of existing training initiatives and supports a seamless transition to fully mobile and immersive training formats. The platform has the potential to greatly reduce the need for on-site workshops, which can lead to substantial time and cost savings. Additionally, participants can retain safety information better than with traditional classroom or e-learning formats.
By offering the content free of charge to all organizations – including Swiss schools – BearingPoint and Suva are democratizing access to high-quality VR training, even for smaller organizations with limited budgets. The platform is available on the Meta Quest 3 headset in Switzerland’s official national languages: German, French, and Italian, as well as English.
Nathanaël Bonvin, Programme Manager for New Technologies at Suva, explains:
“The Swiss Safety VR platform allows us to offer truly engaging and effective training experiences that not only motivate participants but significantly improve safety outcomes. We chose to work with BearingPoint because their expertise and innovative approach were a perfect match for Suva’s commitment to advancing safety training.”
