Innovate UK Health Innovation Grant Application

DeafSafeWork VR

Protecting Deaf Workers' Health & Legal Rights Through Immersive VR & AI

Lushsoft | Global Healthy HR (GHHRA)

The Problem

Deaf Workers Are Invisible to Workplace Safety

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UK working-age adults with hearing loss

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BSL users employed vs 77% non-disabled

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Elevated injury risk for workers with hearing loss

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Employers fail to check warning signal audibility

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Deaf people experience mental health problems — 2× the hearing population

Sources: RNID (2024), HSE Annual Statistics, BDA Employment Report, SignHealth "Sick of It" Report, EHRC Workplace Safety Review

The Rights Gap

A System That Fails Deaf Workers

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Used Access to Work in 2024 — from 9 million eligible

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Had a negative AtW experience

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Disability discrimination claims year-on-year

9M

Eligible workers

GAP

6,090

Actually supported

Many deaf people don't know deafness qualifies as a disability under the Equality Act 2010

The Technology Gap

VR Works — But Not for Deaf Workers

VR safety training delivers +30% awareness and −43% injuries for hearing workers. Yet…

Solution Type	H&S Training	BSL Native	Immersive VR	Legal Rights
Standard H&S e-learning	✓	✗	✗	✗
VR platforms (PIXO, Immerse)	✓	✗	✓	✗
Deaf comm tools (VRS, captions)	✗	✓	✗	✗
RNID / BDA guides	Partial	✓	✗	Partial
DeafSafeWork VR	✓	✓	✓	✓

ZERO commercially available VR platforms deliver H&S training in BSL

Our Innovation

Four Pillars of DeafSafeWork VR

A comprehensive platform for deaf workplace safety, rights awareness, and mental wellbeing.

VR Workplace Simulations

5 environments: construction, warehouse, office, healthcare, manufacturing. Visual + haptic hazard alerts.

Mock Tribunal Scenarios

Experience realistic employment tribunal settings. Understand processes, evidence, and outcomes.

AI Legal Assistant

RAG-powered knowledge base with BSL video responses. Equality Act guidance in accessible format.

Guided Service Pathways

Direct signposting to OH services, legal aid, mental health support, and Access to Work applications.

Technical Architecture

How It Works

👤 User

Deaf Worker

→

🥽 VR Headset

Meta Quest / PCVR

→

⚙️ Scenario Engine

Unity / Unreal

→

🤖 AI Legal RAG

LLM + Vector DB

→

🤟 BSL Layer

Video Overlay

→

📋 Signposting

OH / Legal / MH

Unity 6 / Unreal 5 RAG Architecture BSL Video Overlays Haptic Cue System GDPR Compliant OpenXR Standard Cloud Analytics

Team & Partners

A Coalition for Deaf Workplace Safety

Lushsoft (Lead)

GHHRA platform owner. Existing employer distribution channel. Technical lead & integration.

RNID

Co-design, user recruitment, evaluation & impact measurement

SignHealth

Mental health pathways, BSL validation & clinical governance

BDA

Community engagement, linguistic review & cultural consultancy

Employment Law Firm

Legal content & tribunal scenario validation

VR Studio

Immersive environment design & development

University Partner

Randomised controlled pilot evaluation & academic rigour

Workplan

18-Month Delivery Timeline

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WP1Co-Design

M1–4

WP2VR Content

M3–10

WP3AI Legal KB

M2–9

WP4Integration

M6–12

WP5Pilot

M10–18

WP6Commercialisation

M14–18

Expected Health Impact

Measurable Outcomes

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Reduction in workplace accidents for deaf employees

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Improved mental wellbeing (WEMWBS score)

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Increase in occupational health service uptake

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Improvement in legal rights awareness

Measured across 100+ deaf workers, 10 UK employers, 12-month pilot

Commercialisation

Route to Market

Target market: £2.1B UK workplace safety training

SaaS Subscription

£50–120 / employee / year

Enterprise Licence

Unlimited users, dedicated support, custom scenarios

White-Label

Branded platform for training providers & insurers

Growth Trajectory

£0.2M

Y1

£0.8M

Y2

£2.1M

Y3

£4.5M

Y4

£8M+

Y5

Route: GHHRA employer channel → RNID / SignHealth co-marketing → AtW funding pathway
International: EU, USA, Canada, Australia (post-pilot)

Competitive Landscape

Where We Stand

Information Only → Immersive Training

VR H&S Training

PIXO VR, Immerse, Mursion
Hearing users only

DeafSafeWork VR

Only occupant ✦
VR + BSL + AI Legal + H&S

Standard H&S Training

E-learning, PDFs, classroom
Generic, not accessible

Deaf Info Resources

RNID guides, BDA resources
Informational, not training

Generic ←→ Deaf-Specific

OncoFlow demonstrates AI potential in healthcare workflows — we are uniquely focused on occupational health for deaf workers.

The first fully accessible VR platform for deaf workers' health, safety, and legal rights

We're seeking Innovate UK grant funding for an 18-month development and pilot programme — to prove that immersive, BSL-native technology can transform workplace outcomes for 9 million people.

Request: Innovate UK Grant Funding

Lushsoft | Global Healthy HR (GHHRA)