1st Edition

Lean Safety Gemba Walks A Methodology for Workforce Engagement and Culture Change

By Robert B. Hafey Copyright 2015
    173 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Productivity Press

    173 Pages
    by Productivity Press

    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