As part of a 10-week safe resident handling awareness campaign, SafeCare BC is inviting members, front-line staff, managers, engineers, students and others to launch a competition for long-term care staff and stakeholders to design innovative new safety ideas that will improve senior care, promote safe resident handling and reduce workplace injuries. The finale of this competition will take place on the first day of the 2016 BC Care Providers Association Conference on May 29 and conference attendees will have a chance to register and attend.
SafeCare BC is inviting you to collaborate on ideas for new safety devices, tools, tactics and/or strategies to improve resident handling. Finalists will compete for the following cash prizes:
- First Place: $2,000
- Second Place: $1,000
- Third Place: $500
- Fourth place: $500
Musculoskeletal Injuries (MSIs) related to resident handling are the number one cause of staff injuries in B.C.’s long-term care sector. According to WorkSafeBC, these back and other strains in the workplace accounted for 76 per cent of the sector’s injury claims in 2014. The total cost to employers and the seniors care system over the past five years has been more than $85 million.
SafeCare BC’s innovation competition will culminate with finalists pitching their ideas to expert judges from the continuing care sector at a ‘Safety Den’ presentation in front of delegates at the BCCPA Annual Conference. The ‘Safety Den’ format is based on the popular Dragon’s Den television series.
The deadline to enter your idea in the competition is April 25, 2016. Click here to enter and click here to download a contest poster you can post at your site. Finalists will be announced in early May.
Check back to the SafeCare BC website for regular updates on the resident handling awareness campaign and the competition.
