An Analysis of the Impact of Lean on Safety

Abstract

The lean philosophy has proven potential to help businesses improve productivity and reduce its losses. Lean can give businesses a cutting edge in this age of global competition. the fundamental principle of lean is to identify wastes in the system and reduce or eliminate them. There is a concern that during lean implementations the focus on productivity may result in health and safety issues being ignored or worse, changes driven by lean may introduce new hazards. the relationship between lean and safety is not clearly understood. Lean and safety should be compatible. Both strive to improve processes. Both are against safety hazards and accidents; safety by definition and lean because the money spent on compensation claims is a waste. When there is a passionate effort to lean processes, there is a danger that lean facilitators might overlook health and safety issues or even introduce new hazards. for example, it is possible that during an attempt to minimize cycle times that a redesigning of a process or workplace could result in protective machine guards being removed. This would compromise safety and potentially lead to an accident. Accidents bring with them the indirect costs including compensation claims as well as forced shut down of machines and processes. These are counter to the fundamental principle of lean, minimizing wastes in addition to everyone's general disdain of accidents. Lean and safety should not be viewed as having conflicting goals but should be addressed simultaneously. the integration of lean and safety can help companies achieve a competitive edge that is critical while providing a safe workplace. Despite the synergistic nature of lean and safety, researchers have found conflict or at least neglect to consider safety in lean implementation. the process changes associated with lean have an effect on safety whether related or not. an online survey was conducted to gauge the effects of lean initiatives on safety and understand the level of integration of the two. Results have been provided in the lean areas for value stream mapping (VSM), one piece flow, material handling, and single minute exchange of dies (SMED). as lean and safety have the common goal of reducing wastes, there are natural opportunities where they integrate into each other.

Department(s)

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

Second Department

Psychological Science

Keywords and Phrases

Continuous Improvement; Ergonomics; Lean; Safety

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-143987027-3;978-143987026-6

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2024 Taylor and Francis Group; Taylor and Francis, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2012

Link to Full Text

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