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Network Innovation Allowance (NIA) Projects
Customer safeguarding immersive training
EasyAssist ™ Remote Actuation EasyAssist ™ Remote Actuation is a follow-on from the EasyAssist ™ ECV (Emergency Control Valve) project. EasyAssist ™ enables customers to press a button to close the ECV, rather than turn the handle. This gives customers who would physically struggle to turn the handle, the ability to isolate their gas supply in the event of an emergency. The project started in November 2022, with research establishing that a new cable operated version of EasyAssist ™ would be required. As with EasyAssist ™ , it will be resistant to high temperature. We also have an approved specification document, which will give the supplier, Oxford Gas Products (OGP) clear guidelines as to what needs to be considered from a policy and safety perspective. This document is constantly reviewed to ensure that any updates discussed are included and confirmed as current and within requirements for the project to keep moving forward. Throughout the year the project has progressed. For the first five months of the year Alpha build and testing was completed, this involved building Alpha units and testing them for activities such as thermal triggering, leak tightness test, button trigger force test and button trigger
The customer safeguarding training platform project aims to deliver a suite of training scenarios centred on supporting customers in vulnerable situations. This highly engaging, simulation-based training aims to improve conventional e-learning based training for customer facing colleagues (field-force and office) by helping them to re-imagine customer situations by allowing them to practice in a safe environment - with the use of various tools and techniques available to support them when interacting with specific additional safeguarding needs. The solution uses developed environments and designed scenarios that take place in various customer properties that trainees can ‘play’ through, receiving personalised feedback on their actions.
The project commenced in June 2023 by developing two customer environments; the first is a typical semi- detached property and the second is a townhouse-style multi-occupancy building. Following the creation of the two environments, the first two scenarios have been developed to a ‘release candidate’ level. These scenarios address mobility issues, non-English speakers, hoarding and scams, and include our emergency and mains replacement works. Two final scenarios are currently being developed as part of the project with a focus on the emergency call centre and an incident – both will include several safeguarding themes. The aim is to have both completed by summer 2024, with integration into our learning platform taking place shortly afterwards, allowing staff to undertake the new training as part of their mandatory annual safeguarding training.
endurance. This phase also provided updates and design modifications that would be required for Beta build and test phase. At this point, the project was delayed for a few months due to procurement and legal activities regarding design for manufacture documents, as they could not be released until an appropriate manufacturer was agreed. In January, we were able to release the Beta test plan and tooling activities to commence the next phase of the project. In the preliminary stages of the Beta testing, it was established that the original requirement of the device working for up to 2m away from the ECV would not be possible due to the inconsistencies of results, when compared to 1m cable. This was due to increased resistance within the cable housing and the device being unreliable if it incurred any bends. Following discussions and further testing the project agreed that 1m distance would be optimal and suitable. Due to the earlier delay with procurement activities, the project has since been extended and we now expect to finish autumn 2024.
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