Seven wasteful habits and ways to stop them

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There is a strong focus on 'Zero Waste' in the media at the moment. Households are trying to achieve it, businesses are trying to achieve it and, in America, whole towns are trying to achieve it.

Zero Waste is a philosophy that encourages reuse and recycling in a way that emulates the process of nature, so that nothing goes to waste. The aim is to cut out all waste that goes to landfills or incinerators.

It's an overwhelming task, which is changing how we think about everything — from original materials and processes to reusing, recycling and repurposing.

In reality, the waste that ends up in landfills and incinerators is only part of the problem for businesses. Not all waste is physical waste that we can see when we look in the dustbin. There is also wasted time, wasted effort and wasted energy. 

If you are looking into new waste reduction initiatives, here are ten habits you might need to stop.

1. Mistakes

Avoidable errors waste time, materials and energy. From manufacturing errors to driving collisions, every company has the capacity to make mistakes and make less of them.

It's much easier to build quality into your process than to find and deal with mistakes that have already been made. 

Cultivate an environment where employees feel more responsible for the work they do and the waste they create. Invite their suggestions for reducing mistakes and waste. Reiterate the need to concentrate fully on the task in hand and to check their work at each stage of the process.

2. Excess

Any activity that involves using or producing too much. From idling engines and machines, to manufacturing overproduction.

Remind employees to turn equipment off when it is not needed and to follow spec sheets and instructions carefully.

3. Idle time 

Waiting for people or things that are missing or not ready wastes time. If you have too much idle time, look at your processes and identify any bottlenecks. 

For example, make sure that:

• The workspace is organised efficiently, with a designated place for everything;
• Tasks are being completed in the correct order;
• There is sufficient planning and preparation;
• There are enough people working on each stage of the process; and
• There is sufficient equipment available for people to work with.

4. Movement

If your employees are having to make too many unnecessary journeys around your workplace this can waste time, effort and energy.

To remedy the problem:

• Talk to your employees to identify where the problems are;
• Store items your employees need most frequently in a more accessible place;
• If certain items are often used together, store them near to each other if you can; and
• Encourage employees to consolidate their journeys to save time.

5. Mishandling

Mishandling is damage caused by carelessness. It could be anything from knocking a wing mirror off a vehicle, to a forklift colliding with boxes, or a manufacturing machine breaking after being used incorrectly. 

If mishandling is a common problem in your workplace there may be specific things you need to address. For example, repeated forklift collisions might be a result of a badly laid out space. A machine that keeps breaking during use, may have a recurrent fault or your operators may need refresher training.

If and when incidents occur, talk to your employees to find out how they happened and try to solve persistent problems.

6. Wrongful disposal

Are your employees throwing things away that are not technically rubbish? For example, used boxes that could be refilled, 'empty' containers that are not actually empty, or recyclables that should go in the recycling bin?

If so, why are they doing this? Do they know what they should be recycling? Is your recycling system difficult to understand? Are your recycling bins in a less convenient place than the normal rubbish bin?

Most such problems can be remedied simply, with a little reorganisation or re-education. Make sure employees are clear about what is expected of them and what their responsibilities are.

7. Using substandards

You can waste time and energy by using or processing substandard materials. For example, using a broken pallet to transport goods could result in the goods falling and being damaged. Likewise, you can waste time and effort by processing substandard materials that will only lead to a substandard product.

Running defective machinery can, primarily, be unsafe. It can also waste materials and energy.

The solution to all of these problems is better checking methods:

• Check the quality of goods-in before you store them away and then again before you process them;
• Check the condition of pallets etc. before use; and 
• Check machines, vehicles and equipment are safe to use and running efficiently.

As you can see, many of these issues can be remedied by improved communications.

This is where Kodiak's workplace poster programme can help, by continually reminding your employees of the protocol around waste and recycling.

If you would like to find out more about Kodiak and how we could help your business to reduce waste, please visit us at www.kodiak.co.uk or call us on 01530 456 000.

Tackling absenteeism

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According to the Office for National Statistics, 131 million days were lost due to sickness absences in the UK in 2013. This figure is down from 178 million days in 1993, but still represents a significant problem to UK employers.

While minor illnesses were the most common reason given for sickness absence, back, neck and muscle pain accounted for more lost days than any other cause.

How absenteeism is affecting your organisation

• Increased costs due to administration, wages paid to absent employees and high costs of paying overtime or hiring temporary staff.

• Possible safety issues caused by temporary and less experienced staff coming in at short notice and having to work quickly to catch up.

• Reduced quality / productivity due to provisional staffing measures i.e. less experienced temporary staff or overworked regular staff.

• Managers diverted from their regular duties to attend to staffing problems.

• Low morale where other employees are called upon to pick up the slack.

Sickness absence is just one reason for absenteeism

There are other reasons your employees may be unexpectedly absent from work. 

Some examples include employees who:

• take holidays without booking the time off first
• are being bullied or harassed at work
• are experiencing work-related stress
• have to take care of sick children or relatives
• have low motivation and take "sickies"
• call in sick to attend job interviews

How do you manage your employee sick days?

Tackling absenteeism can be a challenge and the ways of managing sick days can also be problematic. 

Some employers offer paid sick leave, but this system is open to abuse. Without a doctor's note it can be difficult to determine if an employee is genuinely ill.

Some employers offer a set number of paid sick days to be used as needed throughout the year. However, under this system, employees may see their sick days as days owed and take them whether or not they genuinely need to.

Some employers take a harder line and offer Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) only. The problem with this system is that employees who are genuinely ill are put in a position where they are likely to lose money and may feel pressure to work through their illness or return to work sooner than they really should.

In the case of employees with contagious conditions, such as flu or gastro viruses, this risks spreading germs to colleagues. It is also particularly hazardous in food manufacturing or catering environments where germs can be transferred to food and potentially infect a larger number of people.

Getting to the root of the problem

Another way of tackling the problem is to look at the root causes, as described above.

This approach might involve:

• regularly reminding employees to book time off for their holidays
• tackling issues like bullying and harassment by encouraging open communications, offering support to victims and reiterating to perpetrators that this behaviour will not be tolerated and could have serious consequences
• offering advice on managing heavy workloads, time pressures and stress; and encouraging employees to speak out if they are struggling
• looking at ways to improve employee motivation by encouraging a strong teamwork ethic and making your employees feel their contributions are valued 
• trying to retain valued staff by offering more training and/or opportunities
• reminding employees that their company and colleagues rely on them

Kodiak's poster subscription service regularly addresses all of these issues

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If you would like to try a more pro-active approach to managing absenteeism, our posters could help. 

For more information visit: www.kodiak.co.uk 

Or call us on: 01530 456 000