Good Housekeeping Is Overrated

August 13, 2013 No Comments

Some companies are fanatical about housekeeping!  One company sent corporate EHS staff to their large Seattle plant to perform a safety audit.  Even though the plant was so clean you could eat off the floor, the inspectors still wrote them up for poor housekeeping because they found one “playing card sized” scrap of paper on the floor at the bottom of one of the warehouse racks.  Overkill?  I think so.

In my 40-year safety career, I personally know of only one serious work related injury accident involving poor housekeeping.  An employee tripped on air hose that was left on the floor.   The accident investigation determined that the injured employee was high on illegal drugs at the time of the accident.  Were the drugs the main cause of this accident?  I think so.

Often I see inexperienced (or uneducated) safety professionals focusing on housekeeping when performing inspections.  Why?   Housekeeping violations are “safe” because they are not controversial or expensive to correct.  An inspector knows they will not get push back from management on housekeeping citations.  Also, finding the other hazards is harder to do because you need to have a command of the standards, and a strong technical background to understand the technology involved.

I know a librarian who took a short safety course and was then hired as a safety inspector. She inspected one of my plants and cited us for housekeeping violations; while not even mentioning the serious unguarded machinery that was all around her!  This inspector was not a “safety professional”, she was the “housekeeping police”.

If I were to prioritize the importance of safety hazards, poor housekeeping would not be near the top of my list.  Housekeeping is not as important as: machine guarding, fall from heights, electrical safety, LOTO, confined spaces, cranes, chemicals, powered industrial trucks, life safety, and flammable liquids.

Then there’s the matter of  “clean dirt” vs “dirty dirt”.  Please realize that during the work day, most workers will create some scrap and waste.  I call this “clean dirt”.  It’s a product of the day’s work activities.  If it’s cleaned up at the end of the shift there’s usually no harm done.  “Dirty dirt” is what I call scrap and debris that’s been there for days, weeks, months or even years.  This is not acceptable and I will issue a recommendation if I see “dirty dirt” during an inspection.

I’m not suggesting that you completely disregard housekeeping.  But do keep housekeeping in its’ proper place from a priority standpoint.  Lighten up on those minor housekeeping violations.  Focus on the critical stuff that has real potential to seriously injure or kill someone.

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