Personalized learning for safer working conditions on the railway

Stichting railAlert, an independent foundation responsible for the work safety guidelines in the field of railway infrastructure, chooses Drillster, experts in adaptive learning, to teach, train and certify more than 50.000 railway workers. Stichting railAlert selected Drillster after an extensive tender process with many other candidates. The deciding factor was Drillster’s unique methodology, which focuses on personalized and continuous learning.

The end of periodic testing

Everyone who works in rail infrastructure needs to carry a digital safety passport (DVP). Depending on the area of work, workers have to attend an in-person training course with e-learning activities, followed by an exam, after which they will be certified to perform their work in the field of rail infrastructure for a year after completion of the training program. The use of e-learnings followed by an exam will be a thing of the past as a result of the collaboration with Drillster, since their methodology aims to negate the forgetting curve, which causes knowledge to decline with time. Through the collaboration with Drillster, railAlert seeks to end periodic testing for DVP, and instead focus on active retention of important safety knowledge and procedures that are required for the continued DVP certification.

Adaptive learning

The focus will be on a continuous and efficient retention of knowledge and competencies, so people can safely work on and around the railways. Drillster’s algorithm detects which subjects or procedures require extra attention or when certain knowledge is on the verge of being forgotten. The app will then push questions relating to these topics to the forefront. This makes it easier for employees to keep their knowledge up to date, which allows them to work more safely and efficiently.

Jan Kees Hofker, director of Stichting railAlert: “Stichting railAlert’s main goal is to create a safe and healthy working environment for everyone working on the Dutch railways. Experience tells us that there is room and a desire for improvement. To take the next step when it comes to health and safety, we wanted to move away from standardized testing. Drillster is the right partner to help us in this effort. Their focus is on personalized learning and the anchoring of required knowledge and competencies through continuous practice. I am convinced that working with Drillster provides a future-proof solution that will help us ensure that rail infrastructure workers can continue to work safely and healthily.”

Arnoud Schmitz, Business Development Director at Drillster: “We are incredibly proud to be working with Stichting railAlert. The original question that Stichting railAlert approached us with, is the exact reason why we started Drillster over 10 years ago. It perfectly ties in with the Drillster way of learning. Our philosophy does not support offering employees training once, followed by a standardized test. Instead, we believe in the importance of keeping knowledge and competencies continuously up to date, identifying areas of improvement for our learners and acting on them. The Drillster app is able to identify the exact areas of improvement for its users. By cleverly using this information, we can help everyone achieve continuous proficiency in rail infrastructure work through personalized learning. Through Drillster, a move is made from periodic learning to continuous good practice. We look forward to working together with Stichting railAlert to ensure safer and more efficient working conditions on and around the railways.”

From left to right: Thomas Goossens, CTO Drillster | Jan Kees Hofker, Directeur Stichting railAlert | Marco van Sterkenburg, CEO Drillster | Arnoud Schmitz, Business Developer Director Drillster | Camiel van der Burg, Consultant Stichting railAlert | Bas Poelmann, Projectleider DVP Stichting railAlert