Simms Fishing Products

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Simms Fishing Products
The Road to SHARP
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Simms Information
Established in the early 1980s by Jackson Hole,
WY fly-fishing guide, John Simms to provide
fly-fishing wading gear and accessories. Design,
develop, and manufacture waders, wading boots,
technical outwear, accessories and clothing for
fly-fishers. 100 of Simms waders are produced
in the factory in Bozeman.
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Recognition
1994 Received Kudo award from FLY ROD REEL
Magazine for the Simms/Gore-Tex Cordura
Waders. 1995 Received EMAP Angling Awards,
Accessory of the Year Game for the Simms
Gore-Tex Waders from TROUT SALMON, ANGLING
TIMES and TROUT FISHERMAN. 1996 Simms
president, K.C. Walsh, featured in FORTUNE
Magazine article, Casting Off. 1998 Received
The Best of Grays Sporting Journal for the
Simms Gore-Tex Guide Pants. 1998 Received
Communication Arts 1998 Award of Excellence for
Design Annual Catalog. 2000 Received Kudo
award from FLY ROD REEL Magazine for the Simms
Guide Vest. 2000 Received Game Accessory of
the Century from TROUT SALMON Magazine for the
Simms Gore-Tex Guide Weight Waders. 2000
Received Communication Arts 2000 Award of
Excellence for Advertising. 2001 Received
Retailers Choice designation from FLY-FISHING
RETAILER 2002 Awarded Editors Choice 2002
Best Waders for the Simms Gore-Tex Guide Weight
Waders from Fish Alaska.
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Simms - 1993

• 1993 - KC Walsh purchased Simms, a division of
  Life-Link International.
• The entire Simms organization was moved to
  Bozeman and began operating in a 8000 sq ft
  building with 15 employees.
• 20 waders were produced per day.

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Why SHARP?

• Desire to operate and maintain a safe working
  environment for Simms employees.
• Recognition for the safe and healthy work
  environment within the Bozeman business
  community.
• Long-term employee health and job satisfaction.

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First Things First

• Identified our greatest weaknesses and
  strengths.
• Trained our Safety Committee on safe work
  practices.
• Developed policies/procedures for our safety and
  health program.
• Educated our employees on safe work practices.
• Continued employee development in safety and
  health.

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Historical Weaknesses

• Greatest Weaknesses
• Poor ventilation
• Poor lighting
• Poor power sources
• Use of many extension cords
• No evacuation plan
• No fire prevention plan

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Historical Weaknesses

• No safety policies or procedures
• No hazard communication program
• High staff turnover

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Strengths

• Greatest Strengths
• 1995, new state-of-the-art production facility
• Improved ventilation
• Overhead power supply
• Well lit, clean factory space
• Established a Safety Committee

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Strengths

• Beginning in 2000
• Increased management focus
• Safety became a high-level priority
• Hazard Communication program

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Getting Outside Help

• Carl Crouse and Tina Smollack provided consulting
  services
• Safety Inspections Training
• Job Analysis Training
• Documentation Assistance
• Air Quality Monitoring
• Policy Development
• Employee Training

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Policy Development

• Safety Committee members wrote all policies and
  procedures.
• Conducted Job Analyses on all hazardous
  positions.
• Developed Safety Inspection Checklists.
• Developed Job-Specific Safety Training
  Checklists.

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Training

• All employees receive
• Training on all policies and procedures
• Hazard Communication Training
• Job-Specific Safety Training
• Safety Walk-thru
• MSDS Training
• Annual Fire Drills

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Bumps in the Road

• Time
• Productivity
• Resistance to change
• Increased complaints of unsafe conditions
• Employee Buy-In

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Employee Involvement

• Safety Committee Members
• 3 permanent members from management.
• 4 rotating members from operations group.
• Assigned monthly safety inspections.

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Education

• Continuing education for all employees on the
  issues of a safe and healthy work environment
  occur
• Quarterly - production staff
• Annually administrative staff

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Making Sense of SHARP

• Employees are the key to success.
• Strong management commitment to a safe and
  healthy work environment.
• Accountability is company-wide.
• Commitment from management.

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Life with SHARP

• Employees feel free to comment on unsafe or
  unhealthy working conditions.
• Mandatory job rotation to prevent CTD.
• Mandatory stretch program for all production
  employees.
• Utilize outside resources to maximize ergonomic
  efforts in production.

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Simms - 2003

• We are now in a 37,000 sq ft. building space.
• Our staff has grown to 70 employees 17 sales
  reps.
• Increased wader production by 1000.
• Established Simms Europe.

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