As a part of SafeCare BC’s safe resident handling awareness campaign and their ongoing commitment to reducing workplace injuries, we recently held the first-ever Safety Den innovation competition at the BC Care Providers Association Annual Conference in Whistler. The event, which is a competition that awards cash prizes for innovative ideas from care providers that will help reduce staff injury rates, was a huge success.
Represented at the competition by Director of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Sharon Simpson, staff from Menno Place in Abbotsford were awarded a $2,000 prize by a panel of expert judges for their Power Laundry Hauler idea – a mobile device that transports large amounts of heavy and wet laundry to the home’s washing machine.
You can watch a video of Menno Place’s Power Laundry Hauler innovation below. Watch for features on the second and third place winners over the coming week.
SafeCare BC would also like to recognize the two runners up who joined us in Whistler and also received cash prizes for their unique innovations:
Valerie Charlton, Registered Physical Therapist – Baptist Housing
Ball Room Dancing Technique
This simple technique allows the person assisting the client to be fully engaged and actively assisting when performing x1 assisted ambulation.
Specifically mentions MSI injuries – this technique prevents staff injuries.
Watch the video submission here:
Sandy Parise, Development Officer – Nanaimo Travellers Lodge Society
Simple Pleasures Project
The Simple Pleasures Project is a poster that identifies the patients’ needs/preferences on a tree.
It gives care workers a quick reference for each resident, allowing easy engagement to gain cooperation in resident handling. This tool is a particular help with casual care workers as agitation and aggression are common when working with the dementia population. Each interaction becomes personalized. As an added bonus, this poster works as part of our double identifier requirement for our nursing staff.
Click here to view the video submission.
SafeCare BC would like to thank all applicants, judges and moderator Daniel Fontaine for making the Safety Den such a successful event.
