“Remote” = up ten flights of stairs in an unairconditioned building running 1400F equipment on the Bayou, requires a crane to move anything of consequence in and out. Workers are in and out of there every day.
There are, in fact, 5S Police. And they are typically staffed by folks in wrinkle-free trousers and pima cotton golf shirts, who believe that the only PPE they need is a corporate T&E card and an underwhelming lack of practical experience.
The argument “if it’s not really bothering you, is it a bother” is specious, here, in my opinion. The fact that this piece of equipment is where it is has everything to do with a general sense of laziness and lack of follow-through. Will plant operations be any different with this sucker gone? Probably not. But we are asking operators to step up, to take some genuine accountability for workplace conditions and to just all around give a shit. To turn around and say, “Well, yeah, YOU need to clean up after yourselves, but those guys can just leave their equipment in your area until they need it somewhere else” is anathema to everything I want to accomplish.
And, lastly, the spare tire HAS a place where it belongs. If the spare tire was kept in your back seat, it would be a different argument. And it’s not like you go to the tire store and say, “Man, I don’t remember where I left my spare tire. I’d best buy a new one!” When you leave equipment in a dark corner of a hotter-than-blazes room 140 feet above ground level on the other side of the plant, it’s pretty easy to just go ahead and buy/rent another one when you need it.
Phew.
.
