|
FEATURE STORY
'Bijoux Baby' wins best new safe product award
by Andrea Fournier
Salus Marine has received the Canadian Safe Boating
Council Safe Boating Award for best new safety product of 2005.
 Salus
Marine Wear has created a new baby Personal Flotation Device. Called the
Bijoux Baby vest, the new design will ensure that a baby will turn face
up from a face-forward position in the water.
The Bijoux Baby PFD supports a baby from 9 lbs to 25 lbs.
According to the Canadian Institution for Health Information, drowning
is the second leading cause of accidental death of children under five
years old, behind motor vehicle accidents.
Steve Wagner, president of Salus Marine Wear, identified a void in the
industry. "We'd been getting calls from dealers and parents for this
type of thing. And also, I had a daughter who, when she was born, didn't
have a PFD."
"The secret to it working so well is that it is a non-fitting vest.
It has a short front and it is mesh in the back. There isn't any foam
in the back at all," said Wagner, meaning the foam side will always
be facing right-side up.
The Bijoux PFD is not Transport Canada approved, but there are no current
standards against which to evaluate it. Transport Canada has issued a
statement concerning the Bijoux PFD.
"Having an infant onboard a vessel wearing a Bijoux PFD and not having
another flotation device aboard is not illegal. If an infant must go onboard
a small vessel, having the infant wearing a comfortable and effective
PFD is the logical and appropriate decision."
Receiving the Canadian Safe Boating Award was a huge honour for Salus
Marine Wear.
"It was nice to get recognized by the industry. We put a lot of research
into our design - almost two years before we launched it," Mr. Wagner
said.
"We really had to step outside the box; put aside everything that's
been done and approach it from a fresh point of view."
Andrea Fournier was a co-op student at the National Search and Rescue
Secretariat in spring 2006.
Back to Table of Contents
|
