GSIS Innovation Lab
Real ideas from real workplaces. See them, try them, take them home.
What is the Innovation Lab?
Around the world, safety teams are quietly building things that work. A new way to run a pre-start. A card game that gets crews talking. A simple tool that turned an incident review into a learning conversation.
Most of these ideas never make it onto a conference stage. They get shared over coffee, in the queue for lunch, or on the drive home: "What are you doing about that?" "How did you get the site on board?" The problem is you can only describe them. You can't show them.
The GSIS Innovation Lab fixes that.
It's a hands-on showcase where delegates present the tools, programs and approaches they've built and use in their own organisations. It's informal, practical and built for conversation. By delegates, for delegates.
And the standout idea wins $5,000.
What you'll find
Anything that makes safety work better in practice:
Tools, templates, checklists and guides
Games, simulations and training formats
Learning Teams, investigation and review methods
Leadership and communication programs
Digital tools, apps and dashboards
Research findings with practical takeaways
Some are well tested. Some are early-stage pilots. Both are welcome. You don't need to call it HOP, Safety-II or Learning from Normal Work. You just need to have seen it make a difference.
How it works
The Innovation Lab is open across all three days of the Summit, Monday to Wednesday. Each presenter has a station. Delegates move between stations to see the work, ask questions, play the game, try the tool and swap notes.
Presenters are at their stations for the dedicated showcase sessions:
Monday: 5:30pm to 6:30pm, before the Poolside Dinner
Tuesday and Wednesday: 8:00am to 9:00am, before the plenary program starts
All catered breaks, every day
No slides and no lectures (unless a short demo on a screen is the best way to show it). Just people showing what they've done and talking about how they did it.
$5,000 Innovation Lab Prize
The standout innovation will win a $5,000 cash prize, announced at [the Summit close on Wednesday]. The winner will be [selected by the GSIS organising committee / voted by delegates], based on the criteria below.
All accepted Innovation Lab presenters are eligible.
Submission Guidelines
Who can submit
Any registered GSIS 2027 delegate, or someone who will register if their submission is accepted
Practitioners, leaders, frontline teams, researchers and students
Individuals or teams (at least one person must be registered to attend the Summit)
The Innovation Lab is not a trade stand. Commercial products and services are welcome only where they're shown through a real workplace application, ideally co-presented with the client organisation.
What we're looking for
We'll select submissions, and judge the $5,000 prize, on whether they are:
Practical
Something other organisations could adapt and use.
Real
Used in a workplace, even if only as a pilot. We welcome honest accounts of what didn't work as well as what did.
Showable
Delegates can see, touch, try or play it at your station.
Fresh
A new idea, or a new take on a familiar one.
How you can present it
Choose whatever shows your idea best:
A physical tool, prop or exhibit
A game, exercise or simulation delegates can take part in
A poster
A short video or software demo on a screen
Printed samples, cards or handouts
What we provide
A display space
Trestle table
Cocktail round
Poster board
Raw space
A listing in the program and event app, with your title, name, organisation and description
What we ask of you
Staff your station during all showcase sessions and catered breaks, Monday to Wednesday
Set up by 10:30am on Monday and pack down after the final catered break on Wednesday
Keep it conversational and practical, not a sales pitch
Share a copy or summary of your tool with delegates where you can
How to submit
Submit online by EOD Monday 30 November 2026. You'll need:
Title of your idea (up to 10 words)
Presenter name(s), role and organisation
Short summary (up to 40 words) for the program
Description (up to 150 words):
What problem does it solve?
What is it and how does it work?
What difference has it made?
Format you'll use to present it (exhibit, game, poster, video, other)
Space and power needs
Photo of the tool or idea in use (optional, but helpful)