Reaping The Rewards Of Safety

At Blackwoods, we live and breathe safety. It underpins everything we do for our people and our customers, and recently we saw our efforts being rewarded. We’re proud to announce that we were the winners of the 2022 National Safety Award - Category 4 / Best Communication of a Safety Message for our S.A.M. initiative.

What Is S.A.M.?

In 2020, we undertook a review of our injury trends. We then used that data to work collaboratively with our safety team members and develop a behavioural-based safety program.

S.A.M. Has Three Steps

Stop – How can I get hurt?

This encourages team members to take a beat and consider the potential dangers of moving a cumbersome object at our distribution centres.

Assess – What is the best way to avoid injuring myself or others?

Team members then consider the best approach to keep themselves and others safe.

Move – Team members then adopt the method selected in the Assess stage.

Andrew Dyke, Regional General Manager of Blackwood Australia, notes, “S.A.M. has had an enormous impact on our business. We’ve had a 50% reduction in our total recordable injury frequency rate and a 57% reduction in workers’ compensation claims. Our aim with S.A.M. was to empower our team to make good decisions. S.A.M. is adaptable to anyone and can be applied anywhere in the business.

The Awards

The NSCA Foundation and GIO Workers Compensation’s National Safety Awards of Excellence recognise outstanding work health and safety initiatives and celebrate organisations that champion workplace health and safety. Safety is ingrained in Blackwoods’ DNA and we’re proud to be awarded for our commitment to promoting and developing safety initiatives that protect our people.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in supporting and delivering this initiative – we could not have done this without you. We also extend our thanks to the award sponsor, Ansell, and the NSCA for hosting the awards, as well as the wider HSW Team, Leaders and Team Members who have communicated and contributed to celebrating the success of safe behaviours through S.A.M. storytelling. A special thank you to the Blackwoods Regency Park Team for assisting with production of the S.A.M. educational video program.