A work-based research assessment of the impact of 'lean manufacturing' on health and safety education within an SME

Globalisation has had a major impact on the engineering industry as Pacific Rim countries undercut manufacturing costs and provide a more cost-effective location for many businesses. Engineering in Northern Ireland has mostly declined owing to increased competition from these countries. Engineering...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inResearch in Post-Compulsory Education Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 441 - 458
Main Authors Nikolou-Walker, Elda, Lavery, Kathy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 01.12.2009
Subjects
Adult Education
assessment
Costs
Employee Attitudes
Engineering
Foreign Countries
Global Approach
globalisation
health and safety
Japan
Labor Education
lean manufacturing
Manufacturing Industry
Northern Ireland
Program Effectiveness
Safety
Safety Education
Universities
War
work-based learning
workplace
United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)
Japan
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Summary:Globalisation has had a major impact on the engineering industry as Pacific Rim countries undercut manufacturing costs and provide a more cost-effective location for many businesses. Engineering in Northern Ireland has mostly declined owing to increased competition from these countries. Engineering companies are now forced to streamline their production processes and employ cost-reducing practices in order to meet customer demands at reduced prices. This article aims to analyse the effects of one such streamlining endeavour which was first introduced after World War II in Japan - 'lean manufacturing'. 'Lean manufacturing' aims to reduce all wasteful activities within the production process in order to improve productivity, while reducing manufacturing costs. The work-based project under consideration was concerned with the impact 'lean manufacturing' may have on health and safety performance and education within an engineering company. The focus of the project was to determine through work-based research, and quantitative analysis, the employee perception on health and safety: has it changed (either positively or negatively), as a consequence of implementing 'lean manufacturing'.
ISSN:1359-6748
1747-5112
DOI:10.1080/13596740903360992