What is 5S Audit Checklist?

An effective 5S audit checklist helps evaluators assess workplace compliance and performance. This method ensures a safe, organized workplace that maximizes worker productivity.

Are your standard procedures well documented and actively applied? Do improvement suggestions regularly generate and get implemented? Is the trifecta (sort, set location and shine) being consistently observed?

Sort
A 5S audit checklist is used to inspect and monitor how closely an operation adheres to the five principles of 5-S methodology: Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. This method of working can help organisations streamline workflows while running efficient operations.

Each section or criterion should have a number indicating its level of compliance with each 5S principle, while also including a comments area and summary or total score section that calculates and displays overall assessment scores.

Step one of 5S involves organizing workspaces and production lines, while step two (Sort) involves workers removing anything that’s not essential daily (for instance tools stored in work areas). A Gemba walk may help identify unnecessary items – these should then be marked and removed promptly from production floors.

Set Location
The 5S system’s focus on organization and standardization makes it a powerful asset for businesses seeking to maximize efficiency. Regular audits help to ensure these principles remain upheld and refined. Digital tools like Azumuta make this process more efficient while simultaneously strengthening collaboration within teams as they identify and address any potential issues more quickly.

Step one in this process should be creating an orderly work environment, including setting standards for labeling items in the workplace and making sure all necessary items are present, while any extraneous ones are clearly labeled and removed from circulation.

Manufacturing environments must identify and register any unneeded or misplaced items; in a warehouse this could mean inspecting floors, docks and storage areas to make sure there are no blockages and obstructions; also assessing whether materials, equipment and forklifts are in their appropriate places; finally making sure the workspace remains neat and tidy.

Shine
The fifth S is about maintaining your 5S framework, particularly by performing regular audits to make sure that its first three components remain effective for continued improvement. This fifth step should serve to keep things on track.

Working Environment – Tools, equipment and furniture are stored in designated areas before being returned to their proper homes when not in use. Product scrap and paperwork waste is regularly disposed of in appropriate bins while regular wall, window, door and floor cleaning sessions take place at scheduled intervals to maintain an exemplary standard of cleanliness in all areas.

Implementing a 5S audit checklist is an excellent way to ensure compliance with its framework. This can be accomplished using either traditional DIY techniques or by employing low-code platforms, such as SafetyCulture, which enable organizations to quickly create audit forms that can be filled out anywhere on any device and facilitates digital training and learning programs as part of the auditing process.

Sustain
Once your workplace has been standardised, cleaned and sanitised it is vitally important that its standards remain upheld over time. Regular audits conducted to assess compliance with 5S principles is one way of doing this.

An effective 5S audit checklist will include questions and a scoring system for each step in the process, with space provided for notes or observations which provide context or suggest areas for improvement.

Managers using low-code workflow automation platforms like Xenia can quickly create their own 5S Audit Checklist to stay ahead of their game. Utilizing its smart form builder, this list can be tailored to their business and contain questions relevant to each step of the process, helping quickly identify any issues with maintenance plans, continuous improvement cultures or employee training plans – and then taking corrective measures before they become more serious problems.