Thomas Dudley’s award-winning foundry division has scooped a SHIFT (Safety & Health Foundry Targets Initiative) award 2016 for its housekeeping improvement within the electric furnace melting deck area.
The award was given to Thomas Dudley’s foundry division due to its staff working proactively as a team within time constraints, identifying any issues and implementing a ‘five step solution’ to obtain a record breaking result.
Dave Oddy, Metal Melt Manager said: “We’re extremely pleased to see our hard work was successful. It was important to embrace our core values within the organisation, ‘Safety First’. Working within this environment our main priority was on-site safety and housekeeping, given the nature of the electric melting process.
Dave continued, “All obsolete and unused items were removed from the site, then we stored all equipment and consumables in close proximity to the furnaces and the whole area received a thorough clean and fresh coat of paint. Every team member then attended 5S workshops so that standards could be diligently maintained at the end of each shift. We’ve also added a process to ensure that access can only be gained to the melting deck by people who are wearing the correct personal protective equipment.”
Foundry Director, Mick Cramphorn commented, “Health and Safety as well as housekeeping in any environment is of key importance and our results have reflected our values and work ethic and we’re extremely proud of winning this award. The melt deck’s 5S score had increased from 17 to 46 and several customers have openly remarked that the area looks tidy and more importantly one that is being very professionally managed. The melting cycle times have been reduced and productivity has increased. This is extremely positive and we’re now looking into another similar project to encompass the foundry’s on-site warehousing and logistical capabilities.”
This initiative is in place to help UK foundries control the risks to the health, well-being and safety of their employees. The Safety and Health in Foundries Targets initiative (SHIFT) was designed by the UK foundry industry supported by foundries, CMF, HSE, CHASAC, Unite the Union & Community Union amongst others.
The project comprised the following team members, Phil Carter (Manufacturing Manager), Dave Oddy (Metal Melt Manager), Ethan Asquith (Process Improvement Engineer) and furnacemen Haroon Nazir, Boota Singh, Adrian Evans, Paul Birch and Malcolm Hannah.
For more information please visit www.thomasdudleycastings.co.uk. For further details on the award please visit www.shift-initiative.org.uk.
