Almonte’s perfect safety score a result of a culture of safety
Home designed processes to encourage learning
Friday September 5, 2008 -- Camille Jensen
A perfect score on a recent safety audit has reaffirmed Almonte Country Haven’s progress towards creating a culture of safety.

Designing processes to encourage and support learning, the home’s management team and Kelly Davies, OMNI’s human resources manager, helped the home achieve its top marks, of 100 per cent on the safety audit, conducted by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).

The evaluator was so pleased with the home’s method, she plans to use the Ottawa-area long-term care home as an example of how other long-term care homes can create a culture of safety.

Rick Gourlie, the home’s administrator, says staff members knew they would be audited sometime during the year and the home put forth a concerted effort to make the evaluation as successful as possible.

“We were very clear that we didn’t want to let OMNI nor the health-care sector down,” says Gourlie.

Because evaluations can be stressful, Gourlie says they looked for ways to prepare staff members and support their learning.

The home began by raising awareness about the importance of safety, not just in long-term care but in all workplace environments. Staff members were given educational materials and encouraged to take the information home and discuss it with their families.

Due to the amount of information, the home synthesized the material into smaller, easy-to-read sections, which they made available on the home’s safety board.

Mandatory safety quizzes on the educational material were structured to complement the learning process. Questions were true or false and focused on affirmations of what staff members had already learned.

Gourlie says the type of quiz helped alleviate the stress of an examination by reinforcing the staff member’s knowledge.

“If they know the evaluation process will also enforce their learning process it creates a complete circle,” says Gourlie who adds the evaluator was also impressed by the quizzes.

Gourlie says he is more than pleased with the outcome of the audit, which he attributes to the home’s ability to tackle a difficult challenge.

“We just constantly kept looking for ways to make it better,” he says.

Related Story:
Almonte scores 100 per cent on safety audit

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