Impact of selected lean management tools on work safety

Abstract

Abstract The ongoing processes in production enterprises must be constantly monitored and improved in order to meet the requirements of growing competition in the technical, technological and organizational aspects. Also, customer expectations regarding the quality of products are constantly increasing, while maintaining the lowest manufacturing costs. The analysis of the course of operations, exploited resources, materials, recharges, as well as the identification of risk and losses are the basis for improvement and optimization, leading to increase in process efficiency, as well as optimisation of organization and working conditions. There are many management methods and tools used to streamline processes. Currently, Lean Management (LM) is one of the most popular and effective concepts in this field. The primary goal of LM is to eliminate activities that do not bring added value in processes, while saving resources and meeting customer requirements. The Lean concept offers many useful methods and tools that, when properly selected in the organization, implemented and used, can bring the intended results. The aim of the article is to present the results of the analysis of potentially accidental events in a production enterprise based on the identification of key threats occurring in the plant. Based on Lean Management methods and tools implemented in the company, their impact on work safety was determined.