Clean House for a Safer Workplace

Remind employees that good housekeeping:

• Eliminates accident and fire hazards

• Maintains safe and healthy working conditions
• Saves time, money, materials, space, and effort
• Improves productivity and quality
• Boosts employee morale
• Reflects an image of a well-run organization

Poor housekeeping, on the other hand, creates hazards and invites accidents. Describe the problems poor housekeeping causes, including:

• Slips from slick or wet floors or platforms

• Trips from objects or materials left in walkways and work areas
• Falls from holes in walking and working surfaces, uneven flooring, uncovered pits or drains, and boxes and pallets used instead of adequate platforms
• Collisions caused by poorly stored materials, overhanging or protruding objects, and materials and equipment stored in aisles
• Fire hazards created by piles of combustible scrap and trash, improperly stored flammable materials, and blocked emergency exits
• Chemical hazards caused by leaking or damaged containers, improper storage, and inadequate or improper cleanup of spilled materials

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Press the reality home by relating any incidents in your workplace (maintaining confidentiality) that have occurred because of poor housekeeping.

You can also emphasize the importance of housekeeping by focusing on the Five S’s that the Japanese use. Most companies in Japan follow a simple but rigorous housekeeping program known as the Five S’s:

1. Seiri, which can be translated as sorting, refers to the practice of sorting through all the tools and materials in the work area and keeping only the essential items. Everything else is stored or discarded. This leads to fewer hazards and less clutter to interfere with productive work.

2. Seiton, or organizing, focuses on the need for an orderly workplace. Tools, equipment, and materials must all be systematically arranged for the easiest and most efficient access. In other words, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.”
3. Seiso, which means cleaning, indicates the need to keep the workplace clean as well as neat. Cleaning in Japanese companies is a daily activity. At the end of each shift, the work area is cleaned up and everything is restored to its proper place.
4. Seiketsu, or standardizing, allows for control and consistency. Basic housekeeping standards are the same throughout the facility. Employees know exactly what their responsibilities are. Housekeeping duties become part of regular work routines.
5. Shitsike, which means sustaining, refers to maintaining the housekeeping standards and keeping the facility in safe and efficient order day after day, year after year.

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Why It Matters

• Good housekeeping is fundamental to safety and health. The General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards. Housekeeping hazards clearly fall into the category of “recognized hazards.”

• Housekeeping rules are featured in various OSHA regulations, including general industry standards 29 CFR 1910.22(a) for walking-working surfaces, 29 CFR 1910.106(e)(9) for flammable and combustible liquids, and 29 CFR 1910.141(a)(3) for sanitation.
• There is a housekeeping regulation for the construction industry, 29 CFR 1926.25.

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