1. What must the learner do differently?

“Understand safety” is too broad — a workable objective names an observable action: identify an unsafe condition, choose an isolation sequence, inspect a space, coordinate an emergency response. If the behaviour can’t be stated clearly, the simulation will be hard to design and harder to evaluate.

2. Does the task depend on space or physical orientation?

VR earns its place when someone has to look around, judge distance, navigate a site or act within a spatial sequence. If the real challenge is choosing between written options or holding a conversation, a well-built browser experience often does the job with far less deployment effort.

3. Is real practice dangerous, expensive or hard to repeat?

Simulation matters most when the real event is rare, hazardous or dependent on scarce equipment — letting someone repeat a decision without risking people or assets. It doesn’t remove the need for supervised hands-on training afterward; it gets people to that stage more familiar with the sequence.

4. Does variation matter?

If every learner follows one fixed path, an instructional video may be enough. Simulation earns its value when conditions genuinely change — a blocked route, an altered reading, incomplete information — and those variations should come from actual operating experience, not random difficulty for its own sake.

5. What has to stay physical or instructor-led?

Real equipment handling, tactile feedback and regulated assessment often don’t transfer into VR. Draw that boundary early, before the build starts.

6. How will it actually be deployed?

A strong prototype can still fail operationally — consider learner numbers, device ownership, floor space, connectivity and facilitation. A distributed workforce may need a browser-first phase; a training centre can support shared headsets.

7. What evidence would justify continuing?

Define success before the pilot — improved hazard recognition, fewer missed steps, faster escalation. Enjoyment and completion rates are easy to measure and don’t establish that anything transferred to the workplace.

Considering a simulation build? MaskMantle helps frame the actual performance problem first, then decides whether VR, AR, web or a blend is the right first step.