Improve surgical safety with valuable resources and cutting-edge information for healthcare professionals, managers, students, patients, and families. 

Safe Surgery Saves Lives (SSSL) is a campaign established by the World Health Organization Patient Safety to improve the safety of surgery around the world. The Surgical Safety Checklist is a key part of this initiative because its impact extends beyond safe surgical processes to improvement in teamwork, communication, and culture. SSSL also gives you a way to connect with others interested in improving surgical safety so you can share and discover ideas and best practices. Together, we can make every surgical experience a safe one!

Download the Surgical Safety Checklist and other tools and start making changes in your organization.

Surgical Safety Checklist

The Surgical Safety Checklist and other surgical safety tools should be used in all operating rooms in Canada, all the time, for all patients. SSSL supports teams in implementing the checklist by building resources, partnerships, and support systems that will ensure the checklist becomes a sustainable standard of practice.

The checklist:

• Adds patient safety value. All critical steps are completed for every patient, all the time, and the team is better able to prepare for potential complications or emergencies.
• Is inexpensive and easy to use. Almost no cost and no sophisticated training is needed; only time and teamwork are required for adaptation and implementation.
• Gives a voice to all members of the surgical team. The checklist compels them to introduce themselves and verbally communicate important aspects of the patient’s surgery. 
• Is easy to align with what you’re doing now and may do in the future. The checklist works well with other ongoing patient safety initiatives.