Improving emergency preparedness at a Chinese electronics manufacturer

A TenSquared Case Study

Company Profile

Company: Liteon

Country: China

Industry: Electronics Manufacturing

Highlights

Goal: Reduce evacuation time from 12 minutes to 5 minutes (about 58%) in 100 days

Methods: Combined changes to physical workspace, updates to emergency preparedness procedures, and staff training in a holistic risk response.

RESULTS:

• Surpassed goal, achieving  evacuation time of 2 minutes and 52 seconds for the day shift and 2 minutes and 32 seconds for the night shift – a reduction of over 75%
• 75% of workers agreed that management was more receptive to worker suggestions following TenSquared

Case Study

Experts say that the impact of an emergency (such as a fire) is determined during the first few minutes of the incident. In fact, the way people respond in those first crucial minutes can make all the difference in ensuring an emergency does not become a tragedy.

During the TenSquared launch workshop, workers and managers at the electronics manufacturer Liteon shared their challenge with motivating workers to participate in drills, with particular concern that workers on the fourth floor would not be able to evacuate in a timely manner. “Conducting fire drills has always been a game of cat and mouse in our factory,” said one Liteon manager. “We have often had a low participation rate and lots of confusion, and drills have typically taken a really long time.”

Recognizing the risks of failing to evacuate the workplace in a timely manner, the Liteon team set an ambitious goal of reducing their evacuation time by 58% from 12 minutes to 5 minutes in 100 days.

“At the beginning of TenSquared, we conducted a fire drill to estimate a baseline – it took 12 minutes and was fairly chaotic.” Following their baseline test, the TenSquared team reflected on what went wrong and identified the following challenges:

1. There were not enough evacuation signs indicating evacuation routes
2. There was a lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities
3. In many areas of the factory, no one was responsible for assisting in the evacuation
4. There was also no system in place for notifying workers of a fire drill

Over the rest of the 100 days, the TenSquared team worked to address these challenges from several different angles. Their solutions included:

• Assigning responsibility for various evacuation activities to an individual in each factory zone
• Conducting fire safety training for all employees
• Re-designing evacuation paths
• Re-designing and installing new exit signs and markings
• Creating and implementing a new system for conducting regular fire drills for the entire factory (day shift and night shift)
• Creating and implementing a new system for regularly checking and maintaining all fire safety equipment and facilities
• Conducting random tests on fire safety equipment
• Purchasing whistles and horns to signal the beginning of a fire drill
• Creating and implementing a system for keeping all factory aisles clear from equipment and material

Following the implementation of these changes, 98% of workers agreed that the TenSquared program benefited everyone in the factory, and 75% said that management was more open to worker suggestions on health and safety issues following the 100-day project.