LEAN and clean. 5S methodology in the workplace
The issue of workplace cleanliness came to the forefront of public consciousness during 2020. As the pandemic grew in severity and necessitated changes in daily structure to employees and employers alike, providing the workforce with a sanitary and disinfected office environment demanded increased attention and consideration. The importance of workplace cleanliness was not a new one in the UK, however, as previous legislation dictated the basics of healthy office use.
According to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations of 1992, employers are tasked with ensuring that their employees have a safe and clean place of work. This includes keeping surfaces, including floors, ceilings and walls, and furniture, as clean as possible while ensuring that any waste material generated is removed as quickly as possible or, if removing it immediately is impractical, that it be stored in proper receptacles.
The need and method of providing employees with a safe and healthy place of work has become more important than ever before. New approaches that can be used in conjunction with the 1992 guidelines have become important elements of modern workplace safety attitudes. More specifically, LEAN cleaning can help keep the workplace clean and minimise waste while optimising productivity.
What is LEAN cleaning?
LEAN cleaning refers to principles that have long been used to decrease waste in almost every industry conceivable. Applying these to modern cleaning techniques yields cleaner, healthier workplaces while reducing costs.
The LEAN 5S methodology can be used to optimise cleaning processes with space waste, product waste and transportation waste without sacrificing safety:
- Sort: dispose of anything unnecessary.
- Set in order: ensure that equipment and products all have their own place and are consistently put away correctly.
- Shine: conduct regular cleaning campaigns to keep the work area healthy for workers.
- Standardise: create cleaning ‘best practices’ and adhere to them on a schedule to take the guesswork out of the process.
- Sustain: implement the first four of the 5S methodologies and follow them until they become second nature.
The 5S methodology can be applied to a variety of areas to reduce waste and optimise safety.
Space waste
When workers do not have the space they need to work or, conversely, have space but a layout that is not built for efficiency, they are not working as productively as they could be. Luckily, this space waste can be addressed using the 5S methodology.
The first step is to sort cleaning supplies and then set them in order. Ensure that everyone has easy access to the supplies and that they are well labelled and logically organised. Next, standardise the work environment. Clearly defined working areas indicated by tape can keep workers at a safe distance from each other.
Product waste
To avoid wasting products that are overbought or misused, apply the 5S methodologies of sustain and sort to optimise the buying process.
Uphold sustainable product waste minimisation initiatives by buying only what is necessary rather than ‘stocking up’ on products that might never be used. Sort new supplies and ensure that there are no redundant items that can be eliminated from the process.
Transportation waste
When employees take the same path multiple times a day, their days might be optimised for efficiency. Instead of having only one sanitisation station, for example, consider setting enough to ensure that employees are never far from a convenient location.
In addition to setting sanitising stations near high-traffic areas, sort supply closets to offer the same convenience. Expecting staff to travel to a single supply closet makes the multiple sanitisation stations useless. Once the locations of the stations and the closets have been determined, sort new traffic paths to minimise potential germ and illness spreading.
Workplace hygiene facts
Workplace-transmitted illness before COVID-19 led to 38.8 million working days lost, the impacts of which totalled about £16.2bn every year. This is due in large part to the fact that an average of 10 million bacteria are found at desks in a typical workplace. This makes them dirtier than most toilet seats! Add to this the fact that 80% of transmittable disease is spread by touch and it is no surprise that workplaces themselves and the hygiene of those within them contributed to so much missed work time.
Offices are home to all manner of germs and, because of their high populations, can quickly become home to an incredible number of bacteria and contamination. While proper personal hygiene standards can help cut down on some of this, such guidelines are not enough to overcome such a pervasive problem. The only way to keep employees safe is to utilise thorough and routine cleaning methods such as the 5S methodology.
Benefits of the LEAN 5S methodology
Consistent cleanliness in the workplace is important. The LEAN methodology helps staff maintain a healthy work environment by clearly defining expectations and thoughtfully implementing standardisations to make the cleaning process as easy and guess-free as possible. Some of the benefits of a LEAN program include:
- Lower rates of defect
- Improved safety
- Reduced costs
- Enhanced workforce morale
When LEAN 5S methods are properly implemented and supported, workers will be treated to cleaner offices that pose less of a threat to their health. This, in turn, boosts productivity and allows the workforce to concentrate on their work.