Book Talk: Lean Safety

I’ve often heard people argue that the lean tool of 5S – whose five words are most commonly listed as sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain – really ought to be 6S, and that the sixth “S” should be safety.

Regardless of where you stand on that debate, if you believe safety is important in the workplace – and everyone should – then you may be interested in Lean Safety: Transforming your Safety Culture with Lean Management by Robert Hafey, a new book we are publishing next month.

Hafey, who has 40 years manufacturing experience and has been active in the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, emphasizes that building a top safety program requires building a world-class safety culture. He demonstrates how basic Lean tools are as applicable to safety as they are to Lean, such as the A3 problem-solving process and the facilitated kaizen blitz.

Additionally, he establishes standards and metrics for safety management that are clearly definable and measurable. That is also consistent with a lean approach, where any improvement should be definable and measurable.

Companies adopt lean strategies for a variety of reasons – improving time to market, increasing capacity, reducing costs. If your focus is on improving safety, then this book is for you.

Do you have a question or comment about a book(s) that you would like addressed in Book Talk? Email me directly at Ralph.bernstein@taylorandfrancis.com.