Management of housekeeping by feedback.

Abstract

Loss of balance resulting from, for instance, slipping, stumbling and stepping on objects is one cause of musculoskeletal injuries. Good order and tidiness are thus one way of preventing injuries. An experiment on the provision of feedback in regard to performance yielded promising results with respect to the improvement of work practices. The experiment was conducted in a company known for its high standard of cleanliness. The first step was to define the correct work practices (14 behavioural rules). An observation method for measuring the housekeeping standard was then devised on the basis of these rules, and observation tours were conducted in two departments, once or twice a week for 2 months. Each lasted from 2 to 3 hours and covered about 250 items in the larger department and over 150 in the smaller. A training seminar (1 hour) was then held. The 14 work practices were explained and illustrated with slides. A few weeks later the result of each observation lour was drawn on a large graph which had ...