Safety Through Simplification – We’re Only Human After All

By Sharon Hilts

I'm good at multi-tasking. How many times have you heard this one? But sometimes we forget the limited capabilities we have as mere mortals. Consider claims from The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society that cell phone distraction causes over 2,500 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year. No wonder lawmakers are working to make texting while driving illegal.

What does this mean to us in the workplace? It means we must simplify, simplify, simplify. The non-meaningful signals or 'noise' that clutters our work environment needs to be minimized. Employees will then be more able to quickly and easily detect and react to any unexpected safety hazards that may arise. A 5-S Workplace Organization Program that reduces tangible noise is a good start to this endeavor.

Sort

Sort is the first ‘S’ and the first step in a 5-S Program. I like Mrs. Fix-it's take on sorting out the junk from our homes and have found it useful in the workplace. With another acronym Mrs. Fix-it summed it up by saying, ‘things’ must be ‘S’aved (if used regularly), ‘O’ffered out (recycled, given away, sold), ‘R’elocated (to where they are used), or ‘T’rashed (get rid of it!).

Shine

Shine means to clean…yes, this means you. Most of us do not like to clean, but it is a necessary evil in the quest to de-clutter and keep work life simple. Besides prolonging the life of the items worthy of being in our workspace, the exercise also informs us of their condition. You'll also find that if you have to clean something regularly, you'll begin to scrutinize whether or not you really need that item.

Set-in-Order

Put things where they belong. If you use something all the time, keep it close so you don't have to assume repeated awkward postures to retrieve it. Less frequently used items can be kept a little further away. Rarely used items should be kept in a more remote location. Remember to label where things belong so everyone can help keep the space orderly.

Standardize

If your company has a method for organizing items that is working well in another area, adopt this method. Share your systems with co-workers. Similarities from workstation to workstation allow the focus to be on the meaningful differences in the work.

Sustain

Take a picture. You've worked hard and your workspace looks great so take a picture and display it. Set aside some time every day to make your workspace look like this photo. Every month take a little additional time to improve on your standard.

Simplifying the workplace helps us to not only become more productive, but to identify conditions that can be hazardous. So put ‘organize’ in your organization and achieve a safer work environment through simplification.

Sharon Hilts is an Insyte consultant. Her leadership focus on safety improvement has resulted in significantly fewer recordable incidents and corporate awards in OSHA's Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP).