Neatness matters. Neatness matters, not only in your work, but in your workplace. It is a habit that many people find hard to get in to, but it is a habit that will allow them to work much smarter, quicker and more efficiently if a plan to be neat is put into place. It is one of the staples of running a lean facility and an efficient business.
Everybody knows how important neatness is, think about the papers that you had to write in High School that was marked down because it wasn’t written neatly; before everybody typed everything and forgot how to write in cursive. The same is true for your home, how many times do you walk around the garage, looking for something that should be on the work bench or in the tool box but somehow never made it back to its home?
These kinds of things make working and doing business harder than it should be. Work is hard enough, if it wasn’t hard, it would be call fun or play or vacation, so why make things worse by being messy. Also, having a messy workspace can be dangerous and a hazard to the worker and other employees. Insurance is very expensive, paying workers compensation is very expensive and having workers out of work because of an injury that could have been avoided is not only wasteful and potentially expensive due to legal reasons, it is also wrong. Getting affordable nonprofit insurance is a smart move for your business.
Every worker should feel as if their work place is safe and free from excessive hazards that are not part of the job that they are doing. There will always be hazards like moving parts in machinery, moving forklifts and other things that are part of the job, but having to worry about stacks of materials collapsing and tripping over excess materials on the floor and other hazards that could be prevented by being neat, in not fair or right.
That is why being neat throughout the company and every work station is important. There should be rules set in place and time allotted to get the things done that are specified. Cleaning up your work area should be part of what is expected and part of the job at the end of the day, but also any time that it needs to be done. There should be the proper equipment and supplies available as well, in order to accomplish the tasks.
