5S and Standardised Work Procedure

Purpose. Describes how work areas are organised and kept using 5S and how routine tasks are documented and improved as standardised work.

1.Scope

This procedure applies to every work area at GreenLoop sites including sort cabins, baler areas, receival halls, compost pads, the laboratory, workshops, vehicles and offices. It must be applied by area teams with support from the Operational Excellence team.

2.The five steps

Teams must apply the five steps in order and must not move to the next step until the previous one is complete and agreed. The first pass in an area is run as a facilitated event and the results are photographed for the visual board.

• Sort: remove everything not needed for the work and red tag anything uncertain
• Set in order: give every needed item a marked location close to where it is used
• Shine: clean the area and the equipment and use cleaning to inspect for faults
• Standardise: document the layout, the cleaning schedule and the checks as a standard
• Sustain: audit monthly, display the score and act on the gaps

3.Red tagging

Items that the team cannot agree are needed must be red tagged with the date, the area and the reason and moved to the red tag holding area. The area supervisor must decide within 30 days whether the item is returned, relocated, sold or disposed of, and the decision must be recorded on the tag log.

4.Standardised work

Every routine task must have a standard work document showing the sequence of steps, the time for each step, the safety and quality points and the tools and materials. The people who do the task must write it with their supervisor. The current version must be displayed at the point of use and must be the basis for training.

5.Improving the standard

When a team member finds a better way, the improvement must be trialled against the current standard, measured and, if proven, written into a new version of the standard work document. The improvement must be recorded in the improvement register with the benefit. The old version must be withdrawn from the point of use.

6.Audits

Each area must be audited every month against the 5S audit sheet by a person from another area. Scores must be displayed on the visual board and areas scoring below three must have an action plan within one week.