SAM reduces LTAs
August 1st 2004 Synthomer, part of Yule Catto & Co, Polymers division is a major worldwide producer of synthetic latex and aqueous based dispersions. Within the UK, a major site is in Stallingborough which produces 36 000 dry tonnes of latex per year and 50 000 wet tonnes of dispersion products. The plant opened in 1963 and employs around 200 people.
As part of its safety management programme Synthomer first employed the services of HASTAM in 1992. Since then, Mike Thomas from HASTAM has run at least one course a year on the site as well as conducting audits. Recognising the importance of an HSE study that showed that human failings were the root cause of over 80% of incidents Martyn Garner, works director at the plant decided that his site should start looking at ways to influence peoples behaviour and attitudes to unsafe acts and reduce Lost Time Accidents (LTA). Martyn wanted a simple tool that could be used by everyone on site. A tool that showed quick results but at the same time would have long-lasting benefits as working practices evolve.
Stallingborough has had a long and successful relationship with HASTAM and the problem was passed to them. Mike Thomas of the company came up with the original idea which led to the birth of the cartoon character SAM. SAM is an acronym of Stop A Moment, the idea is that before anyone starts a task they stop and think to see if the task can be completed safely. If the individual does not believe the task can be completed safely, they stop and discuss their concerns with a supervisor or manager. The individuals monitoring of SAM is backed up by routine sampling by shift supervisor and managers, who also use the SAM card as a prompt to discuss any unsafe acts which they observe.
Prior to adopting SAM, a working party comprising Mike and key personnel from Stallingborough developed a set of key questions. Stuart Askham, the training supervisor became the SAM champion. Following a pilot course for managers, every employee and contractor attended a two hour training and briefing session at which they were issued with their own SAM card. In the two months leading up to the introduction a poster campaign was introduced and on a weekly basis a new poster was displayed on the site notice boards to increase awareness. A significant number of safety improvements were made in the first month.
Commenting on the success of the SAM approach, Martyn said We were looking for something that was far removed from the already heavily-laden paperwork systems and wanted something quick and simple. The introduction has been a great success with SAM being on everyones lips and hopefully in their minds. A great part of this interest has to be credited to the pre-implementation publicity and training so that everyone was conditioned to the arrival of SAM.
SAM has been a welcome addition to the Stallingborough workforce and, as the photo shows, he is now the first employee you will meet when you visit the Stallingborough site. SAM has lots of brothers who could be employed on your site to ensure everyone goes home after a days work.
SAMs first birthday
After a successful first year total accidents are down to 71% of the pre-SAM total (frequency rate down from 25.64 to 11.14 per 100 000 hours worked). The one day lost time accident rolling frequency rate is down from 1.09 to 0.67. The other big success is the contribution SAM has made to general safety awareness with, for example, incident reporting up by 89% on the pre-SAM figure.
Stuart Askham, SAM champion says, SAM really is working here! He is the best safety initiative weve ever taken on the site. In the early stages SAM helped to update SOPs. Although we did audit SOPs, SAM highlighted differences between what we said and what we did. We do retrospective SAM interviews to bring home the constant need to use SAM. So, if someone has an accident that person is interviewed using the SAM questions and in nearly every case we show that SAM would have stopped the accident. SAM is here to stay and I look forward to further success over the next
12 months. | 
