The Care Group’s Sidney Care Home took home the top prize of $1,000 this week in the sixth-annual Safety Den, presented by SafeCare BC. In this Dragons’ Den-inspired event, three finalists representing healthcare organizations from across the province pitch their health and safety innovations in a bid to win over the show’s judges—the Safety Dragons. This year, it was Sidney Care Home that won this year’s competition.

Inspired by their island roots, the organization’s entry called Sailing for Safety, put a fun, nautical twist on their staff’s education and training.

“Education is the key to effective safe practice in healthcare, keeping residents, staff, and visitors from injury. Sailing for Safety is our initiative to increase education attendance by all our staff,” says Alison Marshall, Director of Care at Sidney Care Home.

The idea is simple. A map of Vancouver Island and its many ports is used as a visual representation of education progress. Staff can move their boats from port to port using the nautical miles they are awarded for completing training and education courses. The Safety Den’s audience of close to 200,  loved the idea for how creative and easy to implement it is.

“The Safety Den is one of our signature events,” says Saleema Dhalla, SafeCare BC’s CEO. “The innovative ideas and passion for health and safety that comes from the contestants is inspiring. And the Sidney Care Home’s idea can be implemented at any organization. Whether the theme is sailing across the island or taking a train from station to station, the core concept is about bringing fun to health and safety.”