Making chemical safety an integral part of 5S in manufacturing

A company that produces sheet metal in Estonia has taken steps to protect workers from the dangerous chemicals used at its manufacturing plant by incorporating safety into a strategy aimed at increasing the efficiency of its manufacturing processes. The approach taken by the company is based on the ‘5S’ approach, the concepts of which relate to the efficient and effective organisation of workplaces and the standardisation of workplace processes.

With the active involvement of employees at all levels, the company has successfully introduced more efficient, safer working methods and systems for storing, using and documenting chemicals. Special attention has been paid to the many Russian-speaking migrant workers employed at the plant, and all new instructions and guidelines are available in both Estonian and Russian.