What is The Safety Centre of Excellence?​

The plan for the Safety Centre was developed at the Council numerous years ago as a concept. Since then, the Council has been developing the business plans, strategies, and fundraising capabilities to make this project a reality. In 2017, pre-construction work began with preliminary engineering work completed by Clifton and Associates.

As part of our overall strategic plan to lead Saskatchewan to become a province of safety excellence, the Safety Centre will become the physical focal point and showcase of Saskatchewan’s injury prevention efforts. Work there will inspire others to further innovate and make life saving advancements.

​The Centre will be a multifaceted facility, developed to focus on all aspects of injury prevention and education with an emphasis on promoting safe choices regardless of the activity. Home & Community Safety, Workplace, Traffic, and Agriculture Safety will all have a spotlight at the Centre.
At the bottom of the page is a complete 3D flyover of the proposed development.

Once a dream, then a vision, now a project coming to life.
 
The Safety Centre of Excellence is Saskatchewan's home for injury prevention and education.

A Centre to Discover & Learn, Practice & Succeed.

​Area 1 - Community Safety Village
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​Our mission is to create a safe and controlled environment in which the youth of Saskatchewan will be able to learn about safety. This community resource will be leveraged primarily for teaching traffic, fire, home, community, personal, and online safety skills to the school-aged children of our communities.

Instructors and volunteers will deliver dynamic life-saving lessons in both classroom and practical settings instilling a culture of safe choices for generations to come. The unique facility will provide a hands-on opportunity to practice what is learned in a safe, controlled environment. This tactile experience serves to reinforce lessons learned and results in long-term retention of the valuable lessons of the Community Safety Village.
The grounds of the Community Safety Village will contain a miniature village featuring more than 30 scaled-down buildings, streets and roadways, parking lots, green space, operational traffic lights, signs and a railway crossing where children can utilize the new knowledge they've learned.

The first of its kind in Saskatchewan, our new village would put us on par with many other provinces that currently have such a facility. Currently, there are at least 20 Safety Villages across Canada. 
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List of Canadian communities with Safety Villages:
Alberta: Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer.

British Columbia: Kelowna, Penticton, Victoria.
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Ontario: Belleville, Brant, Chatham-Kent, Durham Region, Halton, Lambton, Niagara, Orillia, Peel, Saugeen Valley, Thames Valley, Waterloo, Windsor-Essex, York Region
Area 2 - Safe Traffic Operations Park (STOP)
​This custom designed driving area would allow hands-on experience and learning about vehicle safety for motorcycles and passenger vehicles. ​By placing drivers in a safe, controlled environment, beginner and advanced driving techniques can be taught to drivers of all ages.

​Traffic safety programs might include collision avoidance, winter driving, off-road and grid road vehicle control, mature driver refresher, off and on-road motorcycle skills development, driver audits, and defensive driving. 
With 23% of all provincial injuries relating to transportation causes, new innovative ways of teaching valuable driving skills must be found.
Area 3 - Farm Safety Discovery Centre
Agriculture continues to be a staple of the Canadian economy. Farm workers and their family members in Saskatchewan experience a high rate of traumatic life changing injury associated with farm work and the farm environment (Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting). In Saskatchewan, the family farm continues to be the predominant model for farm operations making the farm unique as a workplace in that people both live and work at the ​worksite. 
Many potential applications of workplace safety can be applied on the family farm. From pre-shift equipment inspections, driving skills such as trailering to load securement, transportation of dangerous goods and chemical safety, confined space, and fall protection, bringing farm safety in line with traditional workplace best practices will reduce injuries and save lives.
​Helping provide areas for education and research into agriculture safety is a key step in addressing the epidemic of farm and ranch-related injuries.
Area 4 - Workplace Training Complex
​​Many programs the Saskatchewan Safety Council provides are focused at Saskatchewan workplaces. There are numerous other organizations including training groups and safety associations that could potentially benefit from the access to state of the art facilities.

The new state of the art training facilities will allow for high quality and engaging safety training that would include both classroom and practical components for a wide variety of topics.
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​Classroom sessions would include topics such as workplace and equipment inspections and lockout procedures, incident investigation, occupational health and safety committee training, and hearing and respiratory protection.
Hands-on training at the facility could include such topics as: confined space entry and rescue, fall protection and fall arrest, fire extinguisher use, and power machinery operation such as forklift and aerial work platform.

Outdoors, there would be an area for the practice application of skid steer loaders, telehandlers, yard tractors and aerial lifts. It would also provide space for demonstrations and small events.
Dedicated workplace training facilities give opportunity for safety conscious organizations to take the initiative, improving the standard for industries at higher risk of injury.
Area 5 - A Safe Place to Play
Learning to play safely is one of the most important life skills a child can learn. With a state-of-the-art safe children’s play structure, the park will allow children visiting the Safety Centre an area to enjoy playing outdoors on slides and swings. Children from the local community could also access the park as a place to meet, socialize and have fun safely. 

With a large parking lot and proximity to major thoroughfares, this facility would be an ideal location for travellers to take a short break from behind the wheel, check their messages, or stretch their muscles.

Ongoing Progress

​In 2017, the Saskatchewan Safety Council Board of Directors reached an agreement for the acquisition of a 30-acre parcel of land located on the Regina Bypass route in the Rural Municipality of Sherwood, pending subdivision approval. 

To support this project, in 2022 the Saskatchewan Safety Council received a very generous gift of 30 acres of land located on the Regina By-pass. This land has successfully been subdivided and rezoned correctly to allow for this development.
Clifton Engineering Group developed engineering and technical documents to support the development which include:
  • Proposed Plan of Subdivision, including a Legal Land Survey signed by a Saskatchewan Land Surveyor meeting the requirements of the RM of Sherwood
  • Site plan including ground elevations, contours and major features
  • Servicing concept plan and suitability recommendation
  • Storm water management plan
  • Geotechnical Report with ground characteristics, soil density and composition
  • Hydrogeological Study
  • Traffic Impact Assessment
  • Access Management Plan
  • Level 1 Environmental Assessment
  • Heritage Screening Report
  • Crosby Hanna & Associates have developed a Master Concept Plan for the project

The Safety Centre is fronted by an existing high-grade gravel access road that would be more than sufficient to handle any conceived traffic. The service road is accessed from the Regina Bypass overpass off from Hill Avenue/Centre Road interchange.
​It is our belief that the Safety Centre of Excellence will be a focal point for the province and one more step in the Creation of a Province of Safety Excellence… Saskatchewan.