Management by Housekeeping

Comments on our Management by Housekeeping Survey:

1 It plays a major role in safety results also

2 I remember getting a new production manager at KVP whom I had worked with at Boise (Vancouver). (He actually had been my boss at Boise and became my boss at KVP much to my pleasure). He always showed up on Saturday and early in his reign he took a broom to the MR floor while a few union people were relaxing in the jobs--to make this short the whole mill became cleaner and more orderly.

3 We have had a focused approach to improving LOC over the past 2 years and it improves morale, is noticed by visitors (including customers and corporate executives, and eliminates waste.

4 We have very high focus on housekeeping and it have result in less incidents and zero LTI

5 I just 5S'd my desk and the psychological effect is immense, not to mention the time savings. Nothing but positive results. I wish I would have realized it years ago.

6 Weyerhaeuser did periodic assessments of the mill safety and health programs at its pulp mills. Housekeeping was one of the critical elements. We noticed a correlation between housekeeping and overall assessment scores. Further, after some digging by a statistician, a high correlation was found between reportable injury rate and housekeeping scores. That is not some kind of coincidental statistical relationship like the number of radios and insane people in England. The attitude and behavior of someone that cares about housekeeping is the same that results in working safely. That is, thinking about and taking action on the consequences of behavior. A key to housekeeping is orderliness. That is, a place for everything and everything in its place when not being used or waiting to be used (inventory).

****

Have a comment? Send your email to jthompson@taii.com. Unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume we can use your name if we publish your letter.