GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

(The Japanese Way of Enhancing

Workplace Safety and Health)

BY
LOUIS YALULANI ZULU

This publication is designed to provide competent and reliable information

regarding the subject matter covered. This book is for educational content
and impact.

HouseKeeping(The Japanese Way of Enhancing Workplace Safety and

Health) Book Edition.

Copyright ©2019 by Louis Yalulani Zulu. All rights reserved.

P.O. Box 31152,

Los Angeles Road,
Lusaka, Zambia.

Contact/whatsapp at +260976775144 /Email: louiszulu5@gmail.com. Ebook

Edition:January 2019.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) Introduction.

(1)Chapter One..The 2018 World Cup Japanese Fans. (2)Chapter

Two..Introduction to Good HouseKeeping. (3)Chapter Three..The Japanese
Formula to Housekeeping. (4)Chapter Four..The Working Formula.
.

(a)

INTRODUCTION

Good Housekeeping is key to maintaining a workplace free from injuries,ill-

health,deaths among the workers and damage of properties.People invest so
much in their businesses and it is prudent enough that they put measures to
protect their investments from the risks of fires and other dangerous
occurrences.

In this book we will solve the issue of bad housekeeping by presenting

simple but yet practical evidence and tips on how we can keep our
workplace tidy. As the old quote “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”

Am passionate about workplace safety and health,thus taking this precious

time to share some tips on we can save life from dying at work.These
principles you will discover will be of much help whether you are big
business owner,self employed persons in their workshops,construction
workers,health worker,miners or government worker.We will look at the 5
common principles of Good Housekeeping and how the Japanese have
termed these key principles to implement a safer workplace.

.
Chapter One.
The 2018 World Cup Japanese Fans.

The year was 2018 and the biggest football tournament was taking place in
Russia.The stage was set and our attention was shifted to Russia.Even some
of us never travelled to Russia but the football moody was activated within
us.We saw a number of people from different countries flock to Russia,for
this prestige football event.The event we go down in memory lane because at
the end of it all we saw France winning it on Russian soil.

The other memory will hold dear to ourselves will be that of seeing a small
team by the name of Croatia reaching the finals for the first time.Croatia
showed the best fight spirit though out there game but unfortunately for the
they lost to France 4-2.Among the number happenings in Russia 2018 some
acts of cleaning the stadiums by the Japanese fans after their National team
played their games impressed the world.This was social media news, big
television channels covered the news and the print media also reported on
the same.The world was left impressed and inspired by this humble gesture.

After the game the stadiums are usually left with a lot of litter and food
waste.People thought their first act of cleaning was motivated by the fact that
their team managed to beat Colombia 2-1 but no we saw the fans did the
same even after the Japanese National football team was kicked out of the
tournament.

After their last game in Russia,the Japanese fans remained behind in

harmony and they started to sweep the football pitch,they carried rubbish
bags and picked every clutter in the stadium and at the end leaving the
stadium clean as they had found it
.

Japanese fans cleaning the stadium.

These acts spoke loudly about the Japanese housekeeping culture and a
research carried out showed that this is a principle Japanese young people
are brought up to observe.It was noted to say this might be the lessons
children are taught in schools at a tender age. For them to show such
uniformity in purpose in a foreign land surely they must be a source of it
all.further research noted that cleanliness is something that is in them and it
is part of their way of life,the world learnt a great ideal of a lesson of the
things we may regard as less important.

Even after a painful defeat they found it in their hearts to clean the stadiums
in Russia.Furthermore their good act was later on emulated by the
Senegalese fans who showed the act of picking the clutter from the stadium
after games.
Good practice is worth emulating for a better and cleaner Environment.We
will seek to go that same way as we explore the topic of housekeep and learn
more of their successes shortly.

Generally the Japanese are keen in the areas of public cleanliness.It is a

common scene to find people and students alike sweeping their
environments.This can be seen in private homes,businesses and nearly most
public roads are fitted with

garbage bags,where the travelling public can make use of.It is a fundamental
duty of every Japanese citizen to take part in periodic clean ups exercises.
We will step away from the football pitch and apply this concept in the
workplace Environment,because as a working person we do spent a lot of
our time in the Work Environment thus its very important that we observe
critical principles of hygiene through out our work life just like the saying
“Cleanliness is next to godliness.”

We will uncover vital steps to achieving a workplace free from injuries,ill-

health and above accidents that claim people's lives world over.
Good housekeeping can help control or eliminate workplace hazards. Poor
housekeeping practices frequently contribute to incidents.
.
Chapter Two.
INTRODUCTION TO GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

From our earlier chapter we easily say exactly what Housekeeping is. Before
we can tell what good Housekeeping is,we will look at what bad
housekeeping looks like.

Some of the common features of Bad HouseKeeping include untidiness,poor

storage,poor disposal of waste,wet or greasy floor,poor clean ups routine and
disorderness in a working Environment. Bad HouseKeeping in workplaces is
more likely to result in fire,slipping on wet floors,falling objects and blocked
egress in the event of an emergency.

A workplace with poor housekeeping is not a pleasant place to work in

because there are a lot of hazards. Works may be exposed to dusts and other
fumes.The working space is usually limited with high risks of worker
entanglement with eating machines and at times warning or safety signs are
obstructed.
There have been some scenarios of rodent infestations in some
workplaces,like one case where a call center operating firm was infested
with rodents that caused damages to their cables and other office equipment.

Rodent infestations are common in stores,factories,warehouses and

farms.Robents can cause a number of life threatening illnesses such as Rat
bite fever,Typhus,Bubonic and Trichinosis.

The same can be said with construction sites which are usually busy with
multiple workers of multiple trades doing different works yet with one goal
of seeing a particular project succeeds.Since there are many workers on a
single site and now imagine the clutter left behind after work has been done.

A construction site with poor housekeeping is not a pleasant environment to

work in.Common features of bad housekeeping in construction sites may
include piles of uncollected building materials,poor storage of dangerous

substances,lack of portable toilet facilities on site and at times poor water

system to use.

A construction site with poor housekeeping is not productive nor is it a safe

working environment as injuries can be the order of day.Thus good
housekeeping education is vital most especially on construction sites as we
have seen seen this industry employees many people.There has to be
ongoing training to both the main contractors and the subcontractors.Newly
recruited employees must be inducted on the best practices of housekeeping
for the continuity of an injury free working environment.

It's of greater importance that we avoid hazards related to poor housekeeping

and pursue proven principles of good housekeeping in our working
environment because the benefits are numerous.

Good housekeeping implies that a workplace is kept in an organized,

uncluttered, and hazard-free condition.As the saying goes“A place for
everything, everything in its place.”

While this is a relatively simple concept, the benefits that can be realized
from good housekeeping practices are far reaching, and affect not only
workers' safety but also their health and productivity. Improvements in
worker health and productivity, in turn, lead to lower operating costs thereby
providing benefits to both the workers and the employer.

Good housekeeping is not just about cleanliness; it lays the basic foundation
for accident and fire prevention. It requires attention to details, such as the
layout of the worksite or facility, identification and marking of physical
hazards, ensuring the adequate number of storage facilities, and routine
maintenance.
.

Below is an illustration of bad housekeeping (Before) and Good

Housekeeping (After).

Has it can be seen from the two contrasting pictures above it surely pays to
organise the equipments in an orderly manner for effective working space
where one can walk freely without any obstruction and also it's much easier
for one to fetch any needed work equipment without any sweat at,above all
this in turn will increase productivity.This too can cause a worker to be stress
free while performing his or her daily duties.

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Chapter Three.

THE JAPANESE FORMULA TO HOUSEKEEPING.

The Japanese have come up with a concept of the 5s.The 5s are derived from
five japanese action words that start with the letter "S". The concept has
been accepted globally and its use is of particular importance.Many
industries can attest of its simple but yet effective use.

The 5s Japanese terms areSeiri,Seiton,Seiso,SeiketsuandShitsuke . This is a

secret formula for organizing your workplace in a clean, efficient and safe
manner to enhance your productivity, visual management and to ensure the
introduction of standardized working.

The 5s is a tool that can be used within any workplace such as

mining,manufacturing,agriculture sector,construction,bakery,butchery or
even in an office, for the purpose of completely doing away with issues of
disorderness and clutters in a work environment.

.
 The Five “S” Principles explained

We will look at these letters in details and see how best we can apply them to
our day to day work environment.

.
The first step isSeiriSeiriis a Japanese word meaning to sort,now what are
we sorting here? We are sorting out or removing clutter within a workplace.

In this step we are looking at things that are not required within a
workplace,these unneeded things can be old or broken chairs,old
tools,machinery,equipment,broken desks or any other material.If it is not
needed then remove or throw away.

Before we can throw away any unneeded things from the workplace, we
ought to do an assessment whether a given equipment can be
fixed,repaired,recycled or even sold out for a profit.Equipments that are out
of use should be moved away and properly marked to avoid any injuries to
the workers.

When throwing away the rubbish and other unneeded materials, we ought to
follow proper channels of disposing of waste so as we don't cause harm to
our environment.

TheSeiristep has many benefits in that scrap will be removed thus increasing
space for utilization and general cleanliness is enhanced.

The untidy workplace that needs to apply the Seiri principle

We will now move on to the next step of good housekeeping,this now the
second stage of the 5s and we will look atSeiton.
Seitonimplies orderliness,it means that setting everything in the proper place
for quick retrieval and storage.

Things need to be stored as close as possible to their point of use in a

location that is both safe and easy for the item to be retrieved.

TheSeitonprocess follows theSeiriprocess,after removing the clutter now is

the time to put or arrange everything in order.Just like the saying “a place
everything and everything is in its place.”

TheSeitonstage is vital for any business because it increases production time

and raises productivity.Apart from that theSeitonprocess also ensures strain
and wastis reduced.In additional operations inconsistencies and losses will
be cut.

Seiton/Orderliness
The third process of the 5s of housekeeping isSeiso.
Seisoimplies cleanliness or making everything shine.

After we have removed clutter and set things in order now is the time to
clean the workplace.

This process involves cleaning the tools,equipment,machinery,fixing oil

leakages,repairs,repainting the walls and the floors and furniture,so as to
bring everything back to good condition.A clean workplace leaves a good
impression to the visitors and boosts the image of the company.

Thus the cleaning exercises should not be left to the cleaners alone,every
worker has the responsibility to do so.We shouldn't wait to say“we will clean
at the end of the shift”,this not a good notion but rather lets adopt one that
says “clean as you go”,meaning while you are still working,you can that
ensure that clutter is removed and not waiting for the shift to end for you to
do the cleaning.
Seiso/cleanliness
The benefits to workplace cleanliness are numerous,to start with a clean
work environment promotes health and safety,it also instills a sense of pride
for the workers,equipment will be inspected on a regular as a result and less
downtime for repairs.furthermore productivity will be enhanced in an
organization.
To achieve this a daily,weekly or even a monthly cleaning routine must be
followed with a proper checklist for peculiar results.Senior managers must
be seen to be leading by example so as to motivate the other employees to
participate in the program. Managers must set a tone for workplace
cleanliness. Remember and always remember toSeiroat your workplace.

The fourth stage of this process isseiketsumeans to standardize the way of

maintaining cleanliness.Most firms fail on this stage because they fail to
conform or maintain the standards.

The implementation and maintenance part of planning is always difficult

thus my appeal is that each stage must be followed for the best results.
Seiketsuor standardise is about maintaining the improvements and
continuously improvement.Seiketsumakes it possible and feasible to live up
to that standards and acts as the neck system for the first three stages.

This stage requires proper and regular audit using checklists and measures of
housekeeping.

Benefit of this stage or process is that it maintains constant cleanliness within

a workplace as large scale periodic clean ups are avoided as clutter won't be
allowed to pile within a workplace,also it provide a visible inspection
checklist of the facilities,equipments and the general environment and top of
that it contributes to quality and productivity.When the environment is clean
its means that some hazards such as dust,toxic fumes and other airborne
contaminants are avoided.

Seiketsu/standardize

We now move to the last stage of the 5s of good housekeeping ,Shitsukeis

the word and it's the word that denotes to sustain or discipline,that is
sustained discipline.

As we saw in our earlier discussion,where we saw the Japanese fans cleaning

the stadium after the games and discovered that the cleaning was a thing that
was taught in their early days of life.Thus we can conclude that actions the
fans showed was a sustained discipline.

Shitsuke implies that it's a discipline that one has to continually practice and
improve on.Its to make a practice part of our day to day living. As a
workplace the need to sustain a good housekeeping discipline is of greater
importance and the rewards are just marvelous.

If we fail to sustain a good housekeeping discipline all the other four steps
we last but for a while.Management has the duty to ensure that employees
are cultured or taught good housekeeping discipline.Training has to be
ongoing so as to sustain the practice and procedures have to be followed.

Shitsuke/sustained discipline
.
Chapter Four.

THE WORKING FORMULA

The world looked to Japan after observing successes in regards to good

housekeeping practices in their manufacturing industries and the secret was
the 5s.As we have seen the 5s is a proven tool and a remedy to poor
workplace safety and health.

The success of the 5s will depend on the involvement,participation and

commitment of everyone within a workplace.The entire management must
be pillar for this program for that they must set the tone.A special committee
must be put in place to lead the efforts of implementing and these committee
members must be from different departments within the company. The 5s
program .Training sessions must be held on a regular basis for each
department.
The 5s is indeed a working formula to make use of it.
.

Thanks for your time and I would like to get your feedback.
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