5 Tips for a Better, Safer Manufacturing Facility

release date: 03/16/2016

From poorly maintained equipment to improper training, to exposed wires and dangerous machinery, manufacturing facilities are a glutton for punishment. Without proactive processes in place for creating a safe environment, accidents resulting in serious injury could occur.

The best way for operating managers to keep their manufacturing facility operating efficiently, while also keeping their employees safe, is to implement best practices for operating a better, safer manufacturing facility.

1. Implement Continuous Training

First and foremost, ensure your manufacturing facility is implementing continuous on the job training for your employees. Your operation is only as safe as the employees working in it, so it’s important your team is following the process for proper equipment use.

As machinery is upgraded or replaced, workshops should be scheduled to educate your employees on how these changes will impact their day-to-day, and workers should be following daily quality control procedures to ensure any minor hazards or poor machinery performance is notated.

In addition to continuous machinery and process training, your workers should also go through continuous training on facility evacuation and emergency first aid.

2. Educate on Permanent Hazards

Regardless of if your employees are doing what they should be doing, some machines are simply dangerous to operate. If this is the case in your plant, ensure your workers are educated on any permanent hazards that come into play with operating the machinery to reduce the risk as much as possible.

For instance, many machines heat quickly and could pose a fire hazard, even when operated correctly, so it’s important your workers know the telling signs and the limits of the machine so they can react accordingly.

3. Schedule Routine Maintenance

If your machinery and equipment are not properly maintained, it could fail at any point during operation, which could result in worker accidents. In order to minimize this risk, it’s imperative manufacturing facilities are scheduling downtime outside of normal operating hours to conduct routine maintenance.

Not only will this routine maintenance help your plant remain efficient, but it will also keep your team safe.

Read 4 Ways to Eliminate Unscheduled Downtime in Your Plant>>

4. Eliminate Carelessness

Unfortunately, the more a task becomes routine, the more careless people tend to become. If your employees are becoming careless about safety best practices, it’s a huge liability for your manufacturing facility.

Enforcing strict quality control procedures that are consistently reviewed by floor management and direct supervisors is a great way to ensure employees are staying alert and following processes.

Another great way to motivate workers to remain vigilant is to implement employee engagement programs to reward employees upon following proper procedures consistently over a set period of time.

5. Teach Proper First Aid Care

At the end of the day, your team could be pros at following best practices for safety procedures, but sometimes accidents just happen. And when accidents happen, your workers need to be prepared to respond immediately to react based on how severe the accident is.

All team members should have a basic knowledge of first aid and should know where the medical equipment is located, and it’s best to have several employees versed in CPR or confined-space rescue as well.

Conclusion

Now that you know best practices for creating a better, safer manufacturing facility, it’s time to take what you know and put it into practice!

It can be hard for floor managers and supervisors to implement all of the above tips themselves due to time constraints and other roles, but luckily Protech International can help eliminate this stress.

Protech International offers in-depth machinery training services, consulting and routine maintenance to help you keep your team informed and your machinery in tip-top shape. By handing the task off to Protech, you can keep your focus on your immediate role and know that your team is being educated on proper operation and safety measures, and your machinery is being maintained.

Learn more about Protech's training, consulting and maintenance services today!