Hi Guys and Gals I have been tasked with writing a report for the company directors in regards to a major factory wide housekeeping exercise. Freeing up space from shelves and storage containers. It should also cover chemical waste disposal This will also need to include reasons why we should dispose of equipment that hasn't been used for several years but stored for "a rainy day", due to line managers reluctance to dispose of these items While there are several reasons safety wise, why we should do this, I'm a little bit stuck as to how the report should be structured. I don't want to come at this from a purely H and S point view as it will be argued that items stored in containers or shelves have no direct safety issues. I need the directors to view a logical plan of action that they can sign off on. Does anyone know where I can find help in writing such a report? I've done a search on the web but can't seem to find the information I require Thank you

Hi You should have an assessment of the risks from these chemicals. If there is no risk or the risk is low, then do you have a H&S justification? Ian

In terms of long term storage of equipment - maybe one point to include is the commerical viability / obsolescent equipment. i.e. while you have may have stuff on shelf for a rainy day, the time a product/item is supported with spare parts etc is usually finite. Maybe look at the sale of spare parts over time? Is the original equipment still manufactured etc? A bit like Microsoft do with software support etc. Ultimately its a commercial decision. For stored chemicals - some may have a natural shelf life before they 'go off' i.e. chemically react/change - hence will need replacing. Structure of your report Executive summary of findings/recommendations Introduction Aims & objectives Description of each factory (?) area Summary of each item - use, last used, sales summary, predicted future sales, justification to keep or dispose of

Hi, Some suggestions: a) Think of it terms of a safety kaizen - continuous improvement to make the factory more efficient. Put a Red "post-it" on all those items that are not required - then organise them to be safely transferred off site. b) Also it could be labelled as a 6S strategy (sort, shine, straighten, standardise, sustain, safety). c) As first impressions count and a safe looking & feeling factory makes a great impression on customers who visit. d) Hopefully a cleaner factory where people have more space to work and store materials etc can improve moral etc. e) Ask 3 questions at all phases of the clean up project: What can we dump, what must we keep, what (new) stuff do we need (housekeeping stations etc) f) Reduction of chemicals = reduction of flammables & combustibles = reduced fire hazard and better impression made on property insurance company. g) Try and make it a team based event. Regards John

I am really liking this 5s thinking, have been reading a lot on it of late, along with 6 sigma stuff