Driving innovation

Background

When former bus driver Sarah Griffin talks about the day that changed her life, she still remembers the sound before anything else.

“There are answers I will never have. I still get emotional, but it’s a normal part of my life now.”

Sarah spent years behind the wheel; years of early mornings, school runs, and greeting familiar passengers. But she also experienced the darker side of the job: aggression, intimidation, trauma.

“We have passengers yell at us… Some drivers just shut down. They don’t know how to cope when someone screams at them.”

After a fatal on-road incident, Sarah’s recovery was long, complex and lonely.

“I drove an extra half hour every day just to avoid the accident scene. A 25-minute drive became nearly an hour… I was terrified to come back.”

She’s not alone. Dysons sees a steady rise in mental injury challenges across its workforce – and that’s what prompted Head of Health, Safety and Environment Annabel Reynolds to apply for a grant from WorkSafe’s Return to Work Innovations (RTWI) to help their workers recover and return to work sooner.

This week, the recipients of the grant for ‘Early intervention – mental injury’ were announced and Annabel and her team were thrilled to have been selected.

A unique VR approach

Dysons’ proposed initiative involves a partnership with XRHealth, a clinical Virtual Reality (VR) provider whose AHPRA-registered clinicians deliver immersive therapy through customised virtual environments. The goal: to help drivers recovering from trauma safely re-enter the community and return to work. This aligns with RTWI’s key mission, to partner with the community in new ways and drive innovation to improve the recovery experience for injured workers.

For Annabel Reynolds, the need for a new approach was obvious.

“We have mental health injuries in transportation, particularly buses. The public can get frustrated, annoyed, and they take it out on our drivers. You can’t put a bubble around them - the risks are real, and they’re frequent.”

She also sees the limits of traditional therapy for a blue-collar, multilingual workforce.

“That whole sitting on a couch talking about your problems… it doesn’t always work. Some of our drivers hold it all in. Culturally, for some men, seeking help is seen as weakness, so what do they do? They stay home, they do nothing and it escalates.”

Instead, Dysons wanted a model that meets drivers where they are - literally.

How it works: Therapy you can step into

With XRHealth, drivers are guided through gradual exposure modules that mirror the real world in a safe, controlled way – from leaving through the front door right through to approaching the depot, stepping into a bus, driving a virtual route and practising conflict resolution in virtual scenarios

Clinicians track biometric signs like eye movement, heart rate, hand motion and micro-reactions to identify triggers and shape therapy in real time. Sessions can be completed from home, eliminating travel barriers for workers too anxious to leave the house.

Annabel explains:

“You’re in an immersive environment, and your biomechanics tell the story. The clinicians can see it and support you in real time. Mindfulness first, then leaving the house, then the bus depot, then behind the wheel, then conflict. It’s not a box to tick - it’s a journey.”

Andrew Jakab, Dyson’s Managing Director and CEO, has welcomed the initiative, highlighting its potential to deliver improved safety outcomes for the business.

“Safety sits above the rest as our core value at Dysons. With digitisation and innovation also an important focus for the business, we are incredibly excited to be able to work on improving safety outcomes for our teams with this fascinating technology,”

The operational reality - and why VR fits

Manpreet Singh joined Dysons in 2006 as a driver, spent 15 years on the road, and now leads a team of drivers in operations. He still steps in behind the wheel when needed - and he’s seen how quickly pressure can mount.

“A lot of people have no respect for drivers these days. Drivers report being abused regularly by passengers. Kids can create problems - we’ve had them open the emergency hatch and climb onto the roof. We were lucky no one got hurt.”

Sometimes it’s not a single catastrophic event, but daily, cumulative stress.

“You’ve got peak hour traffic, school runs and a full bus. You drive slower than traffic so you can watch your surroundings and your internal mirrors. If someone’s moving in the bus, especially an elderly passenger, you have to adjust instantly so a sharp brake doesn’t cause a fall.”

For Manpreet, the promise of VR is practical: it recreates the pressures without the danger, and helps drivers rehearse safer responses.

“Giving people a way to face triggers in a controlled environment makes sense. If they can practise what they’ll see and hear - before they’re back in the seat - they’ll be more ready.”

Staying connected accelerates recovery

Dysons also focuses on suitable duties to keep injured workers connected with their team.

“We always encourage drivers to come to the depot,” Manpreet says. “Sometimes we pair an injured driver with a colleague on the road, just to guide them and rebuild confidence. When they come in wearing the uniform, it makes a big difference mentally.”

Sarah has seen that too:

“It’s not just about work. It helps people with their lives. If this helps someone even go to the milk bar again - that’s a massive difference.”

What the grant funds

Dysons will use the WorkSafe funding to develop three transport-specific VR modules with XRHealth:

1. Approaching and entering the depot (returning to the environment)
2. Driving and operating a bus (engine on, moving in traffic, picking up passengers)
3. Conflict and challenging behaviour (recognising triggers and applying coping strategies)

These sit alongside XRHealth’s broader offer, which includes mindfulness training. For Annabel, the biofeedback element of the therapy is crucial.

“Some people don’t even know what their triggers are. VR helps us identify them safely. Your body tells us things you might not have words for yet.”

“This would have made so much difference to me…”

For Sarah, this initiative represents something deeply personal.

“Talking helps… but sometimes you need to visualise it and have that multi-sensory experience. This would have made so much difference to me in my own recovery.”

And for workers coming back from trauma, she offers this:

“It’s OK not to be OK… If this helps even one person get back to living - grab it with both hands.”

Turning a corner in driver recovery

WorkSafe’s Return to Work Innovations program exists to back bold, data-driven initiatives like Dysons’ VR pilot - solutions that help workers recover not just physically, but emotionally, socially and psychologically. As Annabel puts it:

“We can’t protect drivers from everything. But we can give them tools - real tools - to help them process what happens and find their way back to being themselves.”

And Manpreet adds the on-the-ground perspective:

“We want people engaged with work in whatever form we can provide. Taking it slow, practising safely, and staying connected - that’s how they come back stronger.”

For Sarah, and for the thousands of drivers like her, it all comes back to one, simple message:

“Remember - you need to get home safe.”

This initiative will be delivered and evaluated over the next 20 months, and is set for completion in December 2027.