This document provides an example of poor housekeeping at a workplace and outlines an action plan to improve it. It notes that poor housekeeping can contribute to accidents by hiding hazards. The causes are identified as laziness, apathy, lack of pride, and a general attitude that cleaning is not the employee's responsibility. The action plan calls for employees to pick up any trash or debris they see, maintain clear walkways, and report any building issues rather than standing idle during down time.

1. Posted CLER QDST
January 2015
Good Housekeeping QDM
Problem
Effective housekeeping can eliminate some workplace hazards and help get a job done safely and properly. Poor housekeeping
can frequently contribute to accidents by hiding hazards that cause injuries. If the sight of paper, debris, clutter and spills is
accepted as normal, then other more serious health and safety hazards may be taken for granted.1
Example
The following are examples of bad housekeeping at CLER.
Causes
Why does this happen? The causes are laziness, apathy, lack of pride, and poor prioritization of what needs done and when.
A general attitude of “that’s what the cleaning people are here for.”
The sight of debris in containers, on the slide, and in walkways has become the norm.
Action Plan
If you see something out of place, pick it up. Put all trash in the appropriate receptacles; any bottles, cups, or papers you bring
to the sort should be removed by you.
Maintain walkways. Do not place unused doors on the catwalks. Do not block fire exits with containers.
When there is “down time,” look for work rather than standing idle. Take a little bit of pride in your work environment.
Report any building deficiencies to your manager.
1 Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)