EHS Kanban
Those in the quality world will be familiar with Kanban (literally “signboard”) as a concept. Having its roots in the late 1940s in Toyota, it is used as a scheduling system in manufacturing industry informing what, when and how much to produce. Often visual indicators such as colour coded cards or icons are used to indicate the completion of critical tasks on a board, or electronic system. If used responsibly – i.e. tasks are diligently completed – then they can be used to identify pinch points and help with resource deployment; e.g. we are falling behind in this area and need to transfer resources. I was recently impressed to see Kanban being extended into the realms of environment, health and safety (EHS).
The background was that due to the current economic focus, the business had been concentrating on production with some neglect on EHS issues. Then there was a senior level reorganisation with one result being a refreshed focus on EHS. The plan was to re-engage with staff and revitalise EHS in the business – about 1000 people on-site.
There is an overarching long-term programme of engagement right through the core of the business. At the top level, there is now a good set of EHS KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and accountabilities right down to tool-box talks and briefings at the operational level. One of the outputs on this journey was to begin to map all key EHS tasks and to re-engage those undertaking them. This resulted in a series of EHS Kanban Boards. For example, two “high level” boards were developed. One mapped out all of the tasks, sampling activities, critical maintenance and deadlines for reports and improvement programmes related to the site’s fairly complex Environmental Permit. The other mapped out all of the key Health and Safety related tasks covering issues such as statutory inspections, site inspections and occupational health monitoring deadlines. Other “lower level” boards around the site mapped out the key EHS critical tasks related to specific high risk processes. They covered key tasks to be done on a daily and weekly basis (e.g. start-up and shut-down checks, sampling requirements, basic safety inspections on plant etc.).
The Kanban Boards visually map the key tasks and deadlines over weeks, months and the year. They use a red or green card to indicate when tasks are due or have been completed. Sceptics will say that it is easy to turn a card without doing the task or for cards to get lost and things to be neglected and forgotten. This is true, but the success of the programme related to the time and effort the site took to re-engage with its staff and provide clear responsibilities and trust in the management team. There were of course a series of internal audits to review whether tasks were being completed effectively, with severe consequences if cards had been turned without the work being completed. The whole approach made the management of EHS tasks visual and almost a kick-back from our computer laden world where information can be hidden away electronically.
My conclusion was that the EHS Kanban process was working and that “Consequence Model” had been deployed: For example, there were a clear rules and guidelines to follow, good EHS behaviours were being rewarded and that it was clearly understood that there would be consequences for poor EHS behaviours.
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