Implementation of 5S Practice in University Electrical and Electronic Laboratories

Abstract

The problem and the aim of the study. Safety of university laboratories is of paramount importance. Performing hands on in a university laboratory can be considered as work with lower risks if compared with other processes in the industries. Yet, it is revealed that there are still many accidents that results in injuries or even fatalities to the staffs and students. More effort particularly in laboratory management is required to minimize the occurrence of laboratory accidents. Research methods. This study evaluated perception of laboratory technicians working in several university electrical and electronic laboratories located in the four states of Northern Region of Malaysia regarding the implementation, effectiveness and challenges on the implementation of 5S practice using cross-sectional survey. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire that has been developed and validated by four experts with background of occupational safety. Population of this study was 111 electrical and electronic laboratory technicians from universities in Northern Region of Malaysia. Questionnaire was distributed to all the laboratory technicians and the response rate was 76.6%, where 85 laboratory technicians returned the questionnaire. Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to compare the perception of laboratory technicians among the four states. The level of significance is 0.05. Results. Around 54% of the respondents have more than 3 years working experience 59% of the electrical and electronic laboratories in the Northern Region of Malaysia have an average usage of 10 to 20 hours per week, with 81% have an average of 2 to 4 courses per semester. Approximately 49% of the electrical and electronic laboratories occupied 21 to 30 students per session. Kruskal-Wallis H test for the implementation of 5S practice showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the four states but the test reported statistically significant differences between the mean ranks of at least one pair of groups for effectiveness and challenges of 5S practice. Dunn-Bonferroni post hoc test was employed to further identify the states that were different significantly in the mean rank of scores. Conclusion. Findings from this study give information about the level of implementation, effectiveness and challenges faced by the laboratory technicians working in several university electrical and electronic laboratories located in Northern Region of Malaysia. It can be seen that the knowledge delivered to the students might be similar in the implementation of 5S practice, resulting in a similar level of implementation. Intriguingly, effectiveness of 5S practice resulting from similar implementation of 5S practice in the electrical and electronic laboratories was not the same as it might be affected by other factors. Future study will be focusing on understanding the challenges faced by the laboratory technicians so that the authorities such as the university management could identify the challenges faced by the laboratory technicians in their own university while taking appropriate actions to support the implementation of 5S practice in the laboratory.