A case study on lean occupational safety

Abstract

Occupational illnesses and occupational injuries remain significant problems in contempo-rary countries. Especially in the fourth industrial revolution, with the changing technology and business model requirements, employees are at more risk because they have to be much faster and fulfill different functions. Due to present risks, dangerous working conditions, and inadequate measures, each year hundreds of thousands of people suffer from occupational ill-nesses or have occupational accidents. While occupational health and safety (OHS) practices protect employees, it is possible to increase productivity by ensuring that employees work in a safe and healthy work environment with the Lean Occupational Safety approach based on the “Zero Accident” principle. In this paper, a case study is presented by using a Lean-OHS model that it is an original model that incorporates continuous improvement by taking advantage of lean philosophy, tools and techniques while fulfilling the OHS principles. The research was carried out in a university’s pharmacology and pharmaceuticals laboratory, and it improved working conditions and made the workplace safer by turning 18 of 20 threats into acceptable ones.

Keywords

• Lean
• Occupational Health and Safety
• Case Study
• Laboratory
• Risk Assessment

References

1. REFERENCES
2. [1] Hafey, R. Lean safety: Transforming your safety culture with lean management. New York: CRC Press; 2017. [CrossRef]
3. [2] Joshi, AA. A Review on seven S (7S) as a tool of workplace organization, Int J Innov Eng Tec 2015;8:19–26.
4. [3] Åhlström P, Karlsson C. Change processes towards lean production: The role of the management accounting system. Int J Oper Prod Manag 1996;26:42–56. [CrossRef]
5. [4] Vinodh S, Arvind KR, Somanaathan M. Tools and techniques for enabling sustainability through lean initiatives. Clean Technol Environ Policy 2011;13:469–479. [CrossRef]
6. [5] Birgün S, Kulaklı A. Eliminating the barriers of green lean practices with thinking processes. In: Digitizing Production Systems. Springer; 2022. p. 372–383. [CrossRef]
7. [6] Durmusoglu S. Operating policies for just-in-time manufacturing. In: Satir A, ed. Proceedings of the International Conference on Just-In-Time Manufacturing Systems. Elsevier; 1991. p. 95–114.
8. [7] Shah R, Ward PT. Lean manufacturing: Context, practice bundles, and performance. J Oper Manag 2003;21:129–149. [CrossRef]

9. [8] Birgün S, Özkan K, Gülen KG. Value Stream Mapping: A Case Study on Manufacturing Industry. Istanbul Comm Univ J Sci 2006;5:47–59. [Turkish]
10. [9] Melton T. The benefits of lean manufacturing: What lean thinking has to offer the process industries. Chem Eng Res Des 2005;83:662–673. [CrossRef]
11. [10] Abdulmalek FA, Rajgopal J. Analyzing the benefits of lean manufacturing and value stream mapping via simulation: A process sector case study. Int J Prod Econ 2007;107:2007223–2007236. [CrossRef]
12. [11] Behrouzi F, Wong KY. An investigation and identification of lean supply chain performance measures in the automotive SMEs. Sci Res Essays 2011;6:5239–5252. [CrossRef]
13. [12] Flynn R, Rotter T, Hartfield D, Newton AS, Scott SD. A realist evaluation to identify contexts and mechanisms that enabled and hindered implementation and had an effect on sustainability of a lean intervention in pediatric healthcare. BMC Health Serv Res 2019;19:1–12. [CrossRef]
14. [13] Rosso CB, Saurin TA. The joint use of resilience engineering and lean production for work system design: A study in healthcare. Appl Ergon 2018;71:4556. [CrossRef]
15. [14] Wilson WJ, Jayamaha N, Frater G. The effect of contextual factors on quality improvement success in a lean-driven New Zealand healthcare environment. Int J Lean Six Sigma 2018;9:199220. [CrossRef]
16. [15] Coffey JC, Cho ES, Wei E, Luu A, Ho M, Amaya R, Sener SF. Lean methods to improve operating room elective first case on-time starts in a large, urban, safety net medical center. Am J Surg 2018;216:194201. [CrossRef]
17. [16] Kanamori S, Sow S, Castro MC, Matsuno R, Tsuru A, Jimba M. Implementation of 5S management method for lean healthcare at a health center in Senegal: A qualitative study of staff perception. Glob Health Action 2015;8:27256. [CrossRef]
18. [17] Robinson S, Radnor ZJ, Burgess N, Worthington C. SimLean: Utilising simulation in the implementation of lean in healthcare. Eur J Oper Res 2012;219:188197. [CrossRef]
19. [18] Aziz RF, Hafez SM. Applying lean thinking in construction and performance improvement. Alex Eng J 2013;52:679695. [CrossRef]
20. [19] Ghosh S, Young-Corbett D. Intersection between lean construction and safety research: A review of the literature (presentation supporting paper). In: Proceedings of the Industrial Engineering Research Conference; 2009.
21. [20] Rozenfeld, O, Sacks R, Rosenfeld Y, Baum H. Construction job safety analysis. Saf Sci 2010;48:491498. [CrossRef]
22. [21] Birgün S, Gülen KG, Özkan, K. A case study on eliminating waste from the business processes. In: Proceedings of the 15th Annual World Business Congress; 2006; Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; 2006. p. 4146.
23. [22] Birgün S, Gülen KG. Key value stream approach for increasing the effectiveness of business processes. AURUM J Eng Syst Archit 2020;4:201223.
24. [23] Gnoni MG, Andriulo S, Maggio G, Nardone P. Lean occupational safety: An application for a near-miss management system design. Saf Sci 2013;53;96104. [CrossRef]
25. [24] Occupational Safety and Hygiene. In: Arezes PM, Baptista JS, Barroso MP, Carneiro P, Cordeiro P, Costa N, Perestrelo G, editors. 6th International Symposium on Occupation Safety and Hygiene; 2013 Mar 26-27; Guimaraes, Portugal. CRC Press; 2013. p. 32795.
26. [25] Longoni A, Pagell M, Johnston D, Veltri A. When does lean hurt? An exploration of lean practices and worker health and safety outcomes. Int J Prod Res 2013;51:33003320. [CrossRef]
27. [26] Gečevska V, Čaloska J, Polenakovik R, Donev V, Jovanovski BR. Integration of lean principles and safety management system. Mech Eng Sci J 2015;33:221225.
28. [27] Babur F, Cevikcan E, Durmuşoğlu B. Axiomatic design for lean-oriented occupational health and safety systems: An application in shipbuilding industry. Comput Ind Eng 2016;100;88109. [CrossRef]
29. [28] Dos Santos EF, Dos Santos Nunes L. Methodology of risk analysis to health and occupational safety ıntegrated for the principles of lean manufacturing. In: Goossens RHM, editor. Proceedings of the AHFE 2017 International Conference on Social & Occupational Ergonomics; Los Angeles, California, USA: Sprinter; 2017. p. 487. [CrossRef]
30. [29] Fernandes, JP, Godina R, Matias JC. Evaluating the impact of 5S implementation on occupational safety in an automotive industrial unit. In: Anisic Z, Lalic B, Gracanin D, editors. Proceedings on 25th International Joint Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management – IJCIEOM; 2020 Mar 21; Springer; 2021. p. 139148. [CrossRef]
31. [30] Jiménez M, Romero L, Fernández J, Espinosa MD, Domínguez M. Extension of the lean 5S methodology to 6S with an additional layer to ensure occupational safety and health levels. Sustainability 2019;11:3827. [CrossRef]
32. [31] Hamja A, Maalouf M, Hasle P. The effect of lean on occupational health and safety and productivity in the garment industry: A literature review. Prod Manuf Res 2019;7:1634. [CrossRef]
33. [32] Wu X, Yuan H, Wang G, Li S, Wu G. Impacts of lean construction on safety systems: A system dynamics approach. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019;16:221. [CrossRef]
34. [33] Mutaza MSR, Ani MNC, Hassan A. Investigation the impact of 5s implementation toward accident-free manufacturing ındustries. In: Bakar AMH, Zamri FA, Öchsner A, editors. Progress in Engineering Technology II. Sprinter; 2020. p. 199204. [CrossRef]
35. [34] Małysa T, Furman J. Application of selected lean manufacturing (LM) tools for the improvement of work safety in the steel industry. Metalurgija 2021;60:434436.
36. [35] Abu Aisheh YI, Tayeh BA, Alaloul WS, Almalki A. Health and safety improvement in construction projects: A lean construction approach. Int J Occup Saf Ergon 2022;28:19811993. [CrossRef]
37. [36] Anandh S, Sindhu Nachiar S, Abeshek S, Mariappan P. Introducing Safety on Construction Industry Along with Lean Construction Hypothesis. In: Loon LY, Subramaniyan M, Gunasekaran K, editors. Advances in construction management. 1st ed. Singapore: Sprinter; 2022. p. 413423. [CrossRef]
38. [37] Ulu M, Birgün S. A New Model Proposal for Occupational Health and Safety. In: Durakbasa NM, Gençyılmaz MG, editors. Digitizing production systems. Springer; 2022. p. 347356. [CrossRef]
39. [38] Birgün S, Kulaklı A. Scientific publication analysis on lean management in healthcare sector: the period of 2010-2019. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1201431. Accessed on Mar 23, 2024.
40. [39] Aupperle KE, Carroll AB, Hatfield JD. An empirical examination of the relationship between corporate social responsibility and profitability. Acad Manag J 1985;28:446463. [CrossRef]
41. [40] Kruse T, Veltri A, Branscum A. Integrating safety, health and environmental management systems: A conceptual framework for achieving lean enterprise outcomes. J Saf Res 2019;71:2591271. [CrossRef]
42. [41] Kinney GF, Wiruth AD. Practical risk analysis for safety management. Available at: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA027189.pdf. Accessed on Mar 23, 2024.
43. [42] Womack JP, Jones DT. Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation. 2nd ed. New York: Free Press; 2003.
44. [43] Chapman D. Clean house with lean 5S. Available at: https://www.ame.org/sites/default/files/qrl_docs/Clean%20House%20with%205S%20J%20Rubio_0.pdf. Accessed on Mar 23, 2024.
45. [44] Filip FC, Marascu-Klein V. The 5S lean method as a tool of industrial management performances, IOP Conf Ser Mater Sci Eng 2015;95:012127. [CrossRef]
46. [45] Fernandes JPR, GodinaR, Pimentel CMO, Matias JCO. Impact of 5s+1s Methodology on Occupational Health And Safety. In: Lean manufacturing: Implementation, opportunities and challenges. 1st ed. New York: Nova Science Publishers; 2019. p. 101112.
47. [46] Greif M. The Visual Factory: Building Participation Through Shared Information. Portland, Oregon: Productivity Press; 1991.
48. [47] Hiroyuki H. 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace. 1st ed. New York: Productivity Press; 1995.
49. [48] Bilalis N, Scroubelos G, Antonıadıs A, Emiris D, Koulourıotıs D. Visual factory: Basic principles and the `zoning’ approach, Int J Prod Res 2002;40;35753588. [CrossRef]
50. [49] Imai M. KAIZEN ‐ The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success. 1st ed. New York: Random House;1986.
51. [50] Berger A. Continuous improvement and kaizen: Standardization and organizational designs. Integr Manuf Syst 1997;8;110117. [CrossRef]
52. [51] Graban M, Swartz JE. Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements. 1st ed. New York: CRC Press; 2018. [CrossRef]
53. [52] Laboratuvar güvenliği. Tehlikeli maddelerin depolanmasındaki genel kurallar. Available at: http://www.laboratuvarguvenligi.com/Page.aspx?ID=31. Accessed on Mar 23, 2024. [Turkish]
54. [53] Kimyaevi. Laboratuvar güvenliği. Available at: http://213.232.8.42/TR/Genel/BelgeGoster.aspx?F6E10F8892433CFF8007620E7D5602E894A13708219A80D0. Accessed on Mar 23, 2024. [Turkish]