You eliminated clutter with Sort, and you organized with Set in Order, now it’s time to sanitize with Shine. The third step of the 5S methodology, Seiso or Shine, is a complete cleaning of the work cell. It is important to be thorough with the dusting, shining, sweeping, polishing, and maintaining of the space.
A clean workplace is a safer workplace, and this phase will help you achieve that. Not only will the sanitization help to counteract health hazards or possible infections, keep the floors clear and clean will reduce the risk of workers slipping, tripping, or falling. Workplace accidents are unexpected and often cause a loss of time and money for the company, but by completing and sustaining this phase, you will have fewer injuries and fewer equipment breakdowns. And that means greater productivity and fewer costs.
How to Shine
Shining is much more than wiping down surfaces and doing a quick sweep. You will want to do a deep and unapologetic cleaning of the space, getting it to as close to new condition as possible. By the time you’re done, floors should be free of grease, machines free from dust, and windows or screens completely clear. You should aim to get the work cell as close to perfection as you can.
The Shine phase of 5S is more than just cleaning! This phase is also a great opportunity to inspect and maintain the equipment in the space. While workers are carrying out the deep clean, they should also be inspecting tools and machinery for damage. In doing so, you may find the source of an oil spill is from a leaking piece of equipment, or that a machine is posing a safety hazard to employees. In addition to improved safety, it can also mean a longer lifespan of tools, machines, and equipment meaning reduced replacement and maintenance costs for you.
After fully cleaning and inspecting the space, it is important to develop a standardized for best results. The goal of this step is not only getting the work cell into near-perfect condition, but to keep it that way. Although you may still use a janitorial staff to tackle the daily large-scale jobs, the detailed cleaning will be done by your employees. You must train your staff to view dirt and chaos as an intolerable situation. Train your employees how to do it correctly and ensure they know what they are responsible for by giving them the tools to do the job. Utilizing daily checklists and diagrams for consistency can be beneficial.
Now that you have finished the first three phases of 5S, you should already see a noticeable difference in the spaces you are organizing. Now the Sort, Set in Order, and Shine are finished, you now have the groundwork for a successful 5S implementation.
Additional Resources
- 6S: Safety– creativesafetysupply.com
- The 5S Shine Pillar – Inspection and Maintenance– blog.5stoday.com
- The First Pillar of 5S: Sort– 5snews.com
- Tools for Each S in 5S– lean-news.com
- Improve Workplace Safety with 5S– realsafety.org
- Safety in the Workplace and 5S– hiplogic.com
- 6S or 5S – The Great Debate– blog.creativesafetysupply.com
- Utilizing Visual Communication with 5S– iecieeechallenge.org
- The Final 5S Phase: Sustain– kaizen-news.com