7 Questions Every HSE Manager Should Ask Before Buying an XR Training Solution
You have been burned before.
Maybe it was a shiny eLearning platform that nobody used after week two. Maybe it was a software vendor that promised the world during the demo and went quiet after the invoice was paid. Either way, you are not here to be impressed by a headset demonstration. You are here to make a decision that will affect how your workers perform in high-risk environments.
That is a serious responsibility.
The XR training market is growing fast. Vendors are everywhere. Some build genuinely effective solutions. Others build experiences that look impressive in a boardroom and do nothing on the factory floor. The difference is not always visible in a 30-minute demo.
Here are the seven questions that separate platforms worth your investment from the ones that will end up in a storage cupboard.
Question 1: Does the vendor understand your industry, or just XR?
There is a meaningful difference between a company that builds XR experiences and a company that builds XR training for manufacturing or oil and gas specifically.
General XR studios can produce visually stunning simulations. But if the team has never mapped a training scenario to a permit-to-work process, never worked with HSE-regulated content, and cannot tell you what a lockout/tagout procedure actually involves, the simulation they build will reflect that gap.
Ask the vendor directly: what industries do you specialise in? Can you show me examples of training built specifically for confined space entry, or hydrocarbon leak response, or machine safeguarding? If they pivot to retail or hospitality examples, that is your answer.
The best XR training vendors in industrial sectors involve subject matter experts, including experienced HSE professionals, in the development process. The simulation should reflect the reality of your site, not a generic version of it.
Question 2: How do you measure training outcomes, not just completion?
This is the most important question on this list.
Most platforms can tell you that a worker completed a module. Completion rates are easy to track and satisfying to report. They tell you almost nothing about whether the worker is safer on the job.
The metric that matters is behaviour change. Did the worker make correct decisions under simulated pressure? Did they identify the hazard in time? Did they follow the correct isolation sequence? And critically, is there any evidence that this performance transferred to the real work environment?
Ask for a documented case study where a client measured field behaviour after training, not survey satisfaction scores or headset usage hours. If the vendor cannot provide one, treat their other case studies as engagement evidence only.
Good XR training platforms track decision-making within the simulation in real time, flag where workers hesitate or make errors, and give instructors data they can act on. If the reporting dashboard only shows time spent and pass/fail, you are looking at a compliance checkbox tool, not a safety training tool.
Question 3: Can the content be customised to our specific sites, equipment, and procedures?
Off-the-shelf XR training has a place. For general safety awareness, fire response basics, or broad compliance training, a pre-built module can work well and deploy quickly.
But for high-risk industrial training, generic scenarios have a ceiling. A refinery worker trained in a virtual environment that does not match their actual plant layout, equipment configuration, or site-specific emergency procedures will face a gap when it matters most.
Ask whether the vendor can build training around your actual facility. Can they import your CAD models or 3D scans? Can they replicate the specific equipment your workers operate? Can the scenario logic reflect your standard operating procedures, not a textbook version of them?
Custom development costs more and takes longer. That is a fair tradeoff for training that directly reduces incidents on your specific site. The question is whether the vendor has the capability to do it properly.
Question 4: How does this integrate with our existing LMS and compliance systems?
XR training does not exist in isolation. You have a learning management system. You have compliance records to maintain. You have audit trails that regulators may want to see.
Before a platform impresses you with its rendering quality, understand how the data it generates connects to your existing systems. Does it output SCORM or xAPI data that your LMS can ingest? Can completion records, performance scores, and assessment results flow automatically into your compliance documentation?
A platform that sits in its own silo creates administrative work. Someone has to manually reconcile XR training records with your broader safety management system. In organisations with large, rotating workforces, like those common in oil and gas, that becomes a serious operational burden.
The best vendors will have documented integrations or open APIs. Ask for a technical specification sheet, not just a verbal assurance.
Question 5: What does deployment and ongoing support actually look like?
The demo is always smooth. The real question is what happens at month four, when a headset is not syncing, a content update is needed, and your vendor's response time is three business days.
Get specific. What is the typical deployment timeline for a company of your size? Who manages headset provisioning and updates, your team or theirs? What does the support SLA look like in writing? Is there dedicated account management or a generic helpdesk?
Also ask about scalability. If you pilot with one site and want to roll out across twelve, what does that process look like logistically? Cloud-based management platforms make large-scale deployment significantly simpler, but not every vendor offers them.
The vendors worth working with will have clear, documented answers to these questions. The ones who get vague when you push on operational details are showing you something important.
Question 6: Is this compliant with our regional safety regulations?
Regulatory recognition of XR as a valid training method is evolving rapidly. In April 2026, Italy became the first European country to formally recognise virtual reality as a valid method for the practical component of mandatory HSE training. Frameworks in the UK, EU, and GCC already accommodate outcome-based training criteria that XR can fully satisfy.
But the specifics matter. If your operation is subject to OSHA, NEBOSH-aligned standards, IOSH requirements, or sector-specific regulations in energy or chemicals, you need to know whether the XR training your vendor provides will be accepted as compliant documentation in the event of an inspection or incident investigation.
Ask the vendor whether their platform has been used in environments subject to your specific regulatory framework. Ask whether completion records and performance data are stored in a format auditors can access. Ask whether their content is developed to a recognised safety standard.
This is not a question vendors often volunteer answers to. You need to ask directly.
Question 7: What does success look like at 12 months, and how will we measure it?
A vendor who is confident in their platform will be willing to define success with you upfront, not after the contract is signed.
Before committing, sit down with the sales team and get specific. What KPIs will you track together? Options include: reduction in incident rates, improvement in assessment scores over time, reduction in training delivery costs, speed of new hire competency sign-off, and number of near-miss reports (which often rise initially as workers become more hazard-aware, a positive sign).
A vendor who deflects this conversation or gives you generic answers about "improved safety culture" is not set up to demonstrate ROI. A vendor who engages with it seriously, proposes a measurement framework, and ties it to your actual operational context is the kind of partner worth working with.
Every XR platform looks good in a demo. The scenario is pre-loaded, the headset is charged, and the lighting in the meeting room is perfect. That is not the test.
The test is whether a 52-year-old plant operator with no gaming background can put the headset on for the first time, understand the simulation without instruction, and complete a scenario that reflects the real conditions of their job. Ask to run a pilot with actual workers before signing. Any vendor confident in their platform will say yes.
XR training done well is one of the most effective tools available for industrial safety. Done poorly, it is expensive hardware and unused software. These seven questions will tell you which one you are buying.
Ready to see what industrial XR training actually looks like in practice?
Book a demo with RadiumXR and bring your questions. We will answer every one of them.Book a Demo: https://radiumxr.com/contact-us
