1st Edition
Lean Safety Gemba Walks A Methodology for Workforce Engagement and Culture Change
A Lean Safety Gemba Walk is a walk through the work area (Gemba) that focuses on the continuous improvement of safety. When conducted in a respectful manner, by skilled facilitators, Safety Gemba Walks can have a dramatic long-lasting impact on the culture of a business.
Lean Safety Gemba Walks: A Methodology for Workforce Engagement and Culture Change is a follow-up to the author's bestselling book, Lean Safety, published in 2010. It is a natural progression from the philosophical overview provided by Lean Safety to the reality of the application of those principles in facilities around the world.
This book presents a collection of Lean Safety Gemba Walk case studies that are based on the author’s experiences over the last four years. As the stories unfold, readers are transported on a journey of discovery through the Gemba and begin to see safety differently just as those who physically participated.
Illustrating the importance of employee engagement and culture change, the book provides you with the tools to engage managers, employees, and hourly staff in the continuous improvement of safety. The concepts covered will allow you to empower employees to make a difference in their safety culture rather than simply complying with safety rules.
The Common Objective—Impact the Culture by Building Trust
Compliance-Based Safety—Not Good Enough
Behavior-Based Safety versus Lean Safety
Living Injury-Free Every Day versus Living Painkiller-Free Every Day
A Safety Walk versus a Safety Gemba Walk
Product Flow
Material Handling Methods
Storage Containers
Plant Layout
Block Diagramming
Relationship Diagramming
Rules for Engagement
Case Studies
Metal Fabrication Operation, Ohio
Electrical Cabinet Assembly Operation, Indiana
Distribution Center, Nevada
Transformer Manufacturer: Power Partners, Inc., Athens, Georgia
Industrial Distributor, Pennsylvania
Mining and Metals: Metinvest, Donetsk, Ukraine
Food Plant, Australia
Chemical Plant: Nufarm Limited, Victoria, Australia
Lean Safety Workshop/Kaizen Event Feedback
Impressions—What impressed you the most?
What can you take away and apply in your workplace?
Learnings—Personal Learnings for me
Recreational Vehicle Plant, United States
Food Plant, United States
Sheet Metal Fabrication Plant: KSO Metalfab Inc., Streamwood, Illinois
Medical Device Component Plant: Specialty Silicone Fabricators, Paso Robles, California
Coiled Metal Processing Plant, Australia
Medical Products Plant, Australia
Heavy Machined Products Plant, United States
Custom Field Service Vehicle Plant: Stellar Industries, Inc., Garner, Iowa
Machining and Assembly Operation, Canada
Sheet Metal Products Plant, Canada
Beverage Can Operation, United Kingdom
Process Production Operation, Australia
Conclusion
Index
Biography
Robert B. Hafey
Employee safety is the ultimate responsibility of any leader. Lean provides the ultimate set of guiding principles for any leader. Hafey, in his second book on the combined topic, shows us how leaders can use safety to deploy Lean principles on the Gemba to supercharge the performance of any organization.
—Dan McDonnell, VP Integrated Supply Chain, Ingersoll Rand
The idea of recognizing safety risks as opportunities for Lean improvement is unique. By making a work activity safer we also make the work more productive. I think most Lean practitioners do the reverse - they look for waste in the production cycle, fix that, and then trust that the process improvement also makes the work safer. But having a worker-centric point of view makes the whole Lean improvement idea more personal and grounded in ethics, which makes sense to me.
—Mike, Mikelis Abuls, Executive Vice President & COO, CG Schmidt, Inc.
After decades of grappling with variability in Lean implementation results, along comes Lean Safety Gemba Walks and ties all the loose ends together into a coherent, practical and very powerful approach to the engagement of the hearts and minds of those employees who traditionally suffer the most injuries, the very same people who we want to ‘transform’ into efficient assets. Enough with management pushing transformation, bring on the employees pulling it. The question is whether management can keep up.
—Wayne Burton, Manufacturing Manager, Bricks East Coast, Boral Clay & Concrete