A safe place to work is a key competitive weapon, as injuries and illnesses caused by an unsafe working place not only have an adverse financial effect but also impact negatively on workers’ morale and the quality of goods and services. The one system that has gained universal recognition as a powerful approach for eliminating waste, ensuring product and service quality, and safety of workers, is the 5S system developed by Mr Hiroyuki Hirano of JIT Management Laboratory Company Ltd, in Tokyo. His famous book on 5S, in Japanese, was first published in 1990. It was translated into English by Bruce Talbot, in 1995, and published as 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace: The Source Book for 5S Implementation by the Productivity Press. The basic 5S – that is, Sort (organize), Set in order (orderliness), Shine (cleanliness), Standardized cleanup, and Sustain (discipline) – procedure is found to solve up to 50 per cent of the safety problems in an organization. Hence, Thomas Fabrizio of the Productivity Press has written this Facilitator Guide to aid eliminating unsafe conditions and behaviors before they occur to move from a “fix it” mindset to a “solve and prevent it” mindset (p. 1).
The Implementation Toolkit includes a Facilitator’s Guide (268 pp.), seven copies of Participant Guides )122 pp.), one CD‐ROM with PDF files. The CD‐ROM contains Power Point presentations (110 slides) and 38 forms (in PDF); Acrobat software is also included. The Facilitator and the Participant Guides are both identically structured: there are eight chapters, an introductory chapter and seven chapters each dealing in detail with the seven steps of implementing 5S for safety.
The Facilitator Guide includes some key briefs for using the materials provided, a road map for implementing, and a very brief description of the five keys for successfully implementing 5S for safety. Also included in the introduction are a responsibility matrix of 16 actions and five levels from general management to project teams, and implementation schedule Gantt charts for rapid and in‐depth implementation.
The chapters dealing with the seven steps are structured well, commencing with the purpose of each step followed by objectives, application strategy, and a final summary. Also included, where relevant, are checklists of application tasks and worksheets. In Chapter 2, an overview of the “5S for safety” is provided and a brief explanation is given as how to educate and gain support of management, an essential component for successful implementation. The topic of Chapter 3 is the initial planning required selecting target areas for implementing 5S for safety and conducting a preliminary audit using the “Workplace scan diagnostic checklist”. This checklist comprises 25 items grouped into the 5S categories. Key pointers for creating a “team charter” and tips for completing the second step are also provided. In Chapter 4, attention is turned to explaining how to hand over responsibility to project teams by creating action plans, and keep management involved and committed by providing information on actions taken and accomplishment achieved.
Chapter 5, the longest chapter (52 pp.) deals with the creation and implementation of the basic 5S plan, before focusing on specific issues of safety. The basics of the 5Ss are briefly explained first and application check lists and other required forms for the audit are provided and their application is explained. In Chapter 6, the author explains how to perform an in‐depth audit and determine causes of safety issues by analyzing the findings. Tools and aids required for the diagnostic process are also provided. The theme of Chapter 6 is about preparing for, and implementing, best practices by researching, brainstorming, and then selecting and implementing. The final chapter deals with how to establish standards of best practice and ensure that all concerned adhere to those standards, to reduce or eliminate not only accidents but also near misses and safety problems. The importance of visual displays and controls in reminding people to adopt safe methods is emphasized.
The Facilitator Guide has in addition four appendices: Glossary of terms and definitions (9 pp.); Tools and techniques; Master forms; and Resources available to enhance the learning. The electronic versions of the presentations and forms included in the CD‐ROM are handy as the facilitators can customize them to their specific requirements. The appendix on “Tools and techniques” includes an in‐depth description of tools such as the “5‐why analysis”, benchmarking, Kaizen, “red tagging”, team charter, etc. Red tagging refers to a strategy for separating what is needed and what is not needed to identify and eliminate waste. Appendix C comprises masters of all forms (including checklists, worksheets, etc.) required for implementing 5S for safety, using the seven steps.
Though the book contains information about the basic 5S, the readers who are not conversant with the basic 5S would greatly benefit from reading 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace: The Source Book for 5s Implementation (ISBN 1‐56327‐047‐1) by Hiroyuki Hirano or the abridged version 5S for Operators: 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace (ISBN 1‐56327‐123‐0) available from the Productivity Press.
